CELTIC are ready to seal a deal for Brighton’s Shane Duffy as the Seagull’s supremo Paul Barber confirmed that the future of the 28-year-old would be settled in the coming days. As reported by the Scottish Sun, Barber said that he understood Duffy’s desire to play football and that it was a tough decision to allow a top player to leave the club.
“Shane has been absolutely magnificent for us, literally from the day he joined.
“He is a massive character on the pitch, but an even bigger character off it. He is loved by everyone at the club.
“We will be disappointed if we do lose him, but we also understand he wants to play football.
“It is a difficult decision for the manager because there are only so many centre-backs you can accommodate in one line-up.
“We will be talking about Shane’s future imminently, but he has been a fantastic servant for the club.”
The clubs are thrashing out details and the report says that a deal is likely to be agreed during the week. Neil Lennon is in the market for a central defender with current options appearing quite thin – just Ajer, Jullien and Bitton remain as central defenders after Simunovic left the club.
Celtic would need to pay £2m in a loan deal fee as well as the majority of the Derry-born defender’s wages and potentially if things go well then Duffy may fancy sticking around at the club. The Scottish Champions could have a deal completed by Thursday, with Duffy taking his medical at the FAI training camp.
