Celtic and Newcastle United missed out on a move for Omar Colley as the centre-back would only leave Sampdoria for a “leap in quality”, agent Cheikh Fall has told SampNews24.
During what turned out to be a quiet transfer window across the continent, the Colley story turned out to be one of the most dramatic, head-scratching transfer tales anywhere in Europe.
The Gambia international was transfer listed by Sampdoria last month after slipping out of Claudio Ranieri’s starting XI, sparking interest from plenty of British clubs.
Celtic had identified the 6ft 3in stopper as a man capable of adding some steel to the heart of a paper-thin back line, according to SampNews24, while Newcastle held talks over a potential move to the Premier League (Tuttomercatoweb).
But then came a U-turn no-one saw coming.
Colley signed a new, long-term contract out of nowhere before turning down a potential £7 million move to St James’ Park (La Voce).
“Colley is happy at Sampdoria. He gets along well with his teammates and the coach Claudio Ranieri,” Fall says of the late-blooming 28-year-old, who is now contracted to the Serie A club until 2025.
“We are happy with the renewal of the contract and, as we have always said, if he changes clubs in the future he will do so only for the leap in quality.”
Colley was also tipped to make a controversial switch from Sampdoria to local rivals Genoa.
But, according to Fall, this was a non-starter. Colley would have never joined Samp’s Genoese rivals, even if offered the chance to double his wages with I Rossoblu.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
