Reported Celtic and Middlesbrough target Ciaron Brown won’t leave Cardiff City this month, manager Mick McCarthy has told Wales Online.
After flirting with the play-offs in the second half of last season, Cardiff are looking to ensure their relationship with the top six is more than just a brief fling this time around.
And keeping Brown, the club’s 23-year-old Northern Ireland international, is a substantial step in the right direction, especially given the way he performed after returning from a loan spell at Livingston in January.
Presumably, Brown caught Celtic’s eye during his spell at the Tony Macaroni Stadium, with TEAMtalk suggesting the Scottish Premiership giants have identified the 6ft 1in defender as someone capable of strengthening an often flimsy back line.
Middlesbrough made a bid of their own too, albeit one that fell well short of Cardiff’s valuation (Northern Echo).
Middlesbrough bid for Ciaron Brown rejected, can Celtic succeed?
“I turned the offer down,” confirms McCarthy, who was linked with a move north of the border himself before Celtic handed the keys to Ange Postecoglou instead.
“The upshot of that is Ciaron will stay here. I certainly don’t want him to go anywhere. I’ve offered him a deal, I’d like him to stay.
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“When someone else comes in (to sign a player), it’s always exciting as a player, the chance of a move.
“But there has got to be a right value to it as well – and (Middlesbrough’s) wasn’t.”
Celtic have conceded seven goals in their first four games under Postecoglou, not including a 6-2 thrashing at the hands of West Ham United in pre-season.
But with the club searching high and wide for a left-back, right-back and potentially a striker, it remains to be seen whether £4 million Sweden international Carl Starfelt will be the only new centre-back at Parkhead this summer.
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