There were no reports yet about Celtic trying to sign West Bromwich Albion winger Oliver Burke permanently, but it always seemed to us that it was going to be on the cards given the way the 21-year-old has settled in at the club. We turned out to be right as latest reports from Birmingham Live indicates that the Hoops are keen to negotiate a permanent deal for him. However, it’s unlikely that he would be granted a move away.
The report mentions that because of uncertainty regarding West Brom’s next boss, Burke might have to wait to find out about his future. The new manager might want to assess him from close quarters before deciding on the future of the Scottish winger. So as long as the Baggies don’t sign a manager, Burke’s future is going to be uncertain, and a move is unlikely to go through until then.
Form Celtic’s point of view, we would hope that the English club soon decides on a manager. The Scotsman has settled in at Parkhead well, and it seems like he has been playing with the Glaswegian giants for quite a while.
The 21-year-old has kept Celtic’s all-time record signing Odsonne Edouard out of the first team on occasions, and his playing style looks tailor-made for the Bhoys.
One can understand why West Brom are looking to hold on to Burke as he has immense potential and the Baggies paid a whopping £15m to sign him in the summer of 2017. Therefore they would want to give every opportunity to him before deciding to sell him in the transfer market. As long as Burke’s situation at the Hawthorns is not clear, then even Celtic cannot negotiate a deal with the English club.
So, all in all, it seems like it’s going to be a stalemate until and unless West Brom doesn’t sign a manager quickly. Celtic would hope that the new manager coming in doesn’t rate him much and decides to sell Burke to generate funds to sign new players. The situation sounds complicated enough and definitely, it’s not ideal now that Celtic are willing to sign the winger permanently.
However, if Moore would have stayed at the club then there would have been no chance of bringing Burke to Celtic Park as he had clearly mentioned that he would want to have him back after he gets some first-team experience under his belt. Therefore the sacking of Moore is a positive piece of news for Celtic. But a managerless club would keep both Celtic and the player in the dark about its future. For now atleast.
