Scottish Premiership champions Celtic reportedly tried and failed to sign Shane Duffy before he joined Premier League high-flyers Brighton and Hove Albion
Brighton fans might have feared the worse when Lewis Dunk was forced off in the first half against Manchester United on Sunday. But they needn’t have worried.
Because Shane Duffy went on to produce arguably the best performance of his Premier League career as The Seagulls sealed another famous home win against Jose Mourinho’s giants.
The Irishman was outstanding at both ends, scoring Brighton’s second in the 3-2 win with an ice-cool finish most centre-forwards would be proud of. At the other, he kept Manchester United’s £75 million centre-forward Romelu Lukaku on a very tight leash throughout.
No wonder the Celtic fans who tuned in are rueing their clubs failure to bring Duffy north of the border.
According to The Mail, Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers enquired about signing the then Blackburn Rovers defender two years ago after his impressive Euro 2016 campaign with the Republic of Ireland. It was claimed that Rodgers was willing to invest £2 million in Duffy – only for the former Everton man to join Brighton soon after.
These days, Celtic’s defence is arguably lacking in both quality and leadership and, on Sunday’s evidence, the 26-year-old would have provided both attributes in spades. He’s certainly worth a lot more than £2 million now.
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