Alfie Devine has confirmed his move to Preston North End via Instagram, in what appears to be a significant blow for Celtic…
The 21-year-old midfielder had been a target for Martin O’Neill this summertime, after both he and Mark Fotheringham scouted the player in person recently.
According to reports before the conclusion of last season’s dramatic title shootout with raging Derek McInnes and his Hearts side, O’Neill and his assistant were in the crowd on a scouting mission at Preston North End’s Championship match-up against Queens Park Rangers.
The name thought to be of interest at that time was Tottenham Hotspur’s young star Alfie Devine, who had been on a loan deal at the Lilywhites.
Celtic were strongly touted to be in for the player as soon as the season ended but there was a delay to proceedings as Preston had inserted an option-to-buy in the deal that had taken him from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to Lancashire, thought to be in the region of £6 million. That was widely reported to be an issue for Preston though, as it was claimed to be too high and they wished to renegotiate the terms.
Hope for the Hoops then climbed higher when the 1 July deadline passed, with Alan Nixon stated that if there had not been movement on the Devine deal at that point, then it would be one to watch for Martin O’Neill’s side moving in for the kill.
That has not came to pass though and it has now been confirmed that the man who notched eight goals and six assists in the Championship last term has signed on at the English outift permanently.
Accompanying his Instagram post, the young midfielder posted:
“Delighted to be back here permanently! Can’t wait to get started again and see all you fans at deepdale. Don’t believe everything you read.”
View this post on Instagram
Paul Gillespie
HAVE YOUR SAY – Join the Celtic conversation in our comments section below…
Quick Tip – Add Celticshorts.com as your ‘Preferred Source’ on Google News for quick access to the Celtic content you value the most. It takes just a few seconds and you’ll notice the difference straight away! – Click HERE….Hail Hail!
1 Comment
If that’s the decision taken by Devine, then so be it?
Don’t understand it, and no longer bothered as to why either?
Far more interested in players wanting to play for ourselves?
Still believe that Devine could have been a great move for both himself and ourselves?
He didn’t, so won’t be losing any sleep over his decision, no matter, how little sence it currently makes at present imo?