During his first tenure at Parkhead, Brendan Rodgers has disclosed that Celtic came dangerously close to acquiring England player Declan Rice for £105 million.
The next generation of wealthy The West Ham team recognized the rising Arsenal star as a player with real promise when he was still going through the levels.
Rodgers made his move for Rice after bringing French striker Moussa Dembele from Fulham in a £500,000 cross-border trade in one of his first moves.
Unfortunately, the champions’ attempts to sign the adolescent were derailed by unfortunate timing.
“I remember the first time I was here, we looked for Declan Rice for about three months,” Rodgers remarked.
Just when Declan was about to arrive, there was an unexpected injury.
In the summer, Mikel Arteta, the head of Arsenal, paid £105 million to entice the action-packed midfield player from the Hammers to the Gunners across London.
While acknowledging that he was hoping to close deals early in the current transfer window, the Hoops coach acknowledged the unsuccessful bid.
“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,” Rodgers continued in an interview with the BBC. It would be ideal to get them in [as soon as possible].
“Things that may have lasted for three or four months may disappear, and deals might be tricky. That is the constant difficulty.
“It just takes one wound to have an impact on
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