Former Celtic boss Ronny Deila has claimed that he wanted to sign Moussa Dembele and Scott Sinclair.
Celtic manager Ronny Deila during the press conference
Former Celtic boss Ronny Deila has told The Scottish Herald that he wanted to sign both Moussa Dembele and Scott Sinclair before he was replaced last year.
Deila, 41, has recently started a new job with Valerenga in his native Norway, having been out of work since leaving Celtic at the end of last season.
The Norwegian’s replacement, Brendan Rodgers, has earned plaudits throughout the season having dropped just four points in the Scottish Premiership, guiding Celtic ever closer to an unbeaten league season.
With Celtic also qualifying for the Champions League group stage this season, Rodgers has already managed to achieve what Deila couldn’t, with the aid of two star attackers.
The Bhoys landed Moussa Dembele from Fulham last summer after the Frenchman had scored 17 goals in all competitions last season, and he has been the star of the Celtic campaign with 32 goals in 46 games.
Rodgers also swooped to land winger Scott Sinclair from Aston Villa having worked with him at Chelsea and Swansea, and he has struck 15 goals in just 26 league games this term.
Rodgers has made a total of six signings as Celtic manager, also landing Dorus de Vries, Cristian Gamboa, Kolo Toure and Eboue Kouassi, but Dembele and Sinclair have been the key to Celtic’s unbeaten season so far.
Celtic’s Moussa Dembele shoots at goal
Now, Deila has told The Scottish Herald that he tried to sign both players during his time as Celtic manager, speaking to Dembele’s agent about a possible deal in 2016, whilst he also called Sinclair to discuss a 2015 move before the winger joined Aston Villa.
“I watched Dembele twice when I was there, because he was going out of contract and we knew that we had a chance,” said Deila. “If he was going to go inside England it was going to cost a lot of money but we knew that if he went outwith, then it would be quite cheap. Of course there was a possibility there, if more of the money could end up going to the player and the agent and not to the club! So that was a great signing, but it was something we were working towards several times when I was there. I never talked to the player, I just talked to the agent, but he had to go out of contract with Fulham first before we could get to that next stage.”
“I also talked to Sinclair when he went to Aston Villa [in 2015], I called him when he was at Manchester City, but he wanted more time in England. Of course Brendan knew him as a player which makes it easier, but I tried him as well,” he added.
Do you think Rodgers was key to landing both Dembele and Sinclair?
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
