Sheffield Wednesday owner Dejphon Chansiri has blamed Liam Shaw’s agent for orchestrating a move to Celtic for the highly-rated 19-year-old. Speaking to Yorkshire Live, Chansiri appears disgruntled at the decision by Shaw to switch the relegation-threatened Owls for the largest team in Scotland.
“I thought he was going to go to Celtic because of the agent talking to Celtic.
“When he had a chance to play for the first team, he did quite well and we tried to keep him.
“We talked to them for quite a long time but they just asked to wait and we know why they asked to wait because maybe they were trying to find another club.
“I heard from my people, they told me some fans say ‘why didn’t we try to sign him last year or before’.
“I believe no-one last year, or before in the summer, no-one talked about Liam Shaw. They just tried to talk about him when he is in the first XI and he is doing okay.
“We tried to extend his contract but the agent asked to wait and wait. We knew something was wrong and it’s normal in football.
“When a player tries to be good, then they already try to find another club.
“It doesn’t mean Celtic looked after him a long time.”
Shaw can play central midfield as well as centre back and will arrive for a fee believed to be in the region of £300k for his development. Sheffield Wednesday were desperate to sign him on a new deal but the attraction to Celtic was clearly too much for the youngster. Glenn Loovens suggested that the player’s best position may be as a central defender, suggesting he will take a similar path as Kris Ajer, who arrived at Celtic as a midfielder and is comfortably the best defender at the club.
In recent seasons, Celtic have signed players like Jeremie Frimpong, Lee O’Connor, Jonathan Afolabi and Luca Connell using the cross border rule. Enticing players to a club of Celtic’s stature is one thing but bringing them through the ranks is another. Jeremie Frimpong is the only player that has really made a mark on the first team since arriving from one of the Premier League academies; although it is an emerging market.
