Joe Allen has been linked with a departure from Premier League strugglers Stoke City, with Brendan Rodgers tipped to secure a reunion at Celtic.
There was a great deal of sincerity applied when Brendan Rodgers described Joe Allen as the ‘Welsh Xavi’ after parting with £15 million to reunite with his former Swansea City midfielder at Liverpool.
In fact, that infamous moniker became more a hindrance than a help to Allen’s career. And it is only now, five years on, that he is starting to break free of the shackles to earn a rightful reputation as one of the Premier League’s finest midfielders.
Allen is at Stoke City these days and is thriving in a smaller pond after failing to establish himself at Anfield. But with the Potters tumbling down the table and sacking fellow Welshman Mark Hughes, speculation has intensified that the 27-year-old could be on his way.
And according to Glasgow Live, Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic have emerged as a somewhat inevitable front-runner to sign Allen in the January transfer window. Having worked with Rodgers at both Swansea and Liverpool, it’s fairly obvious why such a link has appeared out of the blue.
But the harsh reality remains that Celtic have not broken their transfer record in 17 years. And with The Mail reporting that Allen would cost about £15 million, it’s pretty unlikely that The Hoops are about to pay £9 million more than they shelled out for John Hartson in 2001.
Allen would be a brilliant signing, but nothing more than an impossible dream in the eyes of Celtic fans.
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