The Scottish manager reveals that he tried to sign the Celtic talent last summer for Blackburn.
Owen Coyle has told BBC Sport that he tried to bring Celtic ace Stuart Armstrong to Blackburn Rovers last summer, only to be rejected by Brendan Rodgers.
The 25-year-old is arguably Celtic’s most improved player since Rodgers took the reins at Parkhead last May, scoring 17 times as the Hoops won a domestic treble without losing a single match last season.
But it took a while for the Scotland international to flourish under the Northern Irish manager, who used him sparingly in the opening few months of last season.
The former Blackburn boss reveals that he spoke to Celtic’s chief executive Peter Lawwell and Rodgers about the midfielder, only to be told by the ex-Liverpool man that he fully intended on giving Armstrong a chance to shine.
“I tried to offer just over £1m,” Coyle told BBC Sport. “Celtic had bought him for probably just £1.5m, £1.75m, whatever it was. Now, a year later, Stuart Armstrong, that value is maybe four, five, six times that.
“He’s a player I’ve always admired. I spoke to Peter, spoke to Brendan. And, to be fair to Brendan, Brendan said, ‘he’s not in the team at the moment, Owen, but he’s going to get his chance and when he does, it’s up to him’.
“And he gave him his chance and the boy kicked on. Stuart’s now a bona fide international player.”
Armstrong has certainly developed into a fine talent under the Celtic boss and another season like the last would see his value skyrocket.
In fact, he might already be worth more than £6 million, after Coyle said his value might’ve increased sixfold, and Rodgers obviously deserves a huge bit of credit for not selling him.
Armstrong had only scored three times in 17 Scottish Premiership appearances under Ronny Deila, so the former Swansea boss might have been tempted to offload him, but he clearly saw some things and the rest is history.
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