BRENDAN RODGERS has revealed Celtic came close to signing £105million England international Declan Rice during his first spell in charge at Parkhead.
The future big-money Arsenal star was coming through the ranks at West Ham when he was identified by the Hoops as a player of genuine potential.
Rodgers, who had brought striker Moussa Dembele from Fulham in a £500,000 cross-border transfer in one of his first deals, made his move for Rice.
Rodgers, speaking to the BBC, added: “There is a lot of work going on in the background and I’m pretty sure that in this early period of the month, we can have some joy and get one or two in. Ideally. you’d want to get them in [quickly].
“Deals can be complicated and things that might have been there for three or four months can fall away. That’s always the challenge.
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