Earlier in the day, news broke out that the Hoops were already closing in on their first signing of the winter transfer window. As reported by The Times, Bobby Clark of RB Salzburg is set to join Celtic in January. The Scottish champions had been linked with the midfielder back when he was at Liverpool and most fans were happy to see the club show some much-needed ambition. But just when it looked like there was some positivity growing, things have taken an interesting twist.
Clark is on loan at Derby County right now. So, if anything had been agreed or was close to being done, one would imagine that his current manager would at least have an idea about it.
That does not seem to be the case in this instance though. On the contrary, it appears that Derby County manager had not even heard of the speculation linking Clark to Celtic before this and has confirmed that he does not want to see the midfielder leave.
As reported by 67 Hail Hail, Derby County boss John Eustace said about the Clark to Celtic transfer rumours:
"It’s the first I’ve heard of it (Clark to Celtic), so that’s interesting. But we certainly don’t want to lose him.
“We brought Bobby in to help develop him, to give him a platform to perform, and he’s certainly done that up to now. There’s a lot more to come from him.
“I think we’re developing him in the right way, but this is the culture and the environment that we set here at Derby.
“The players that have come are going to be developed properly and it’s great that big clubs like Celtic can look at him. We certainly don’t want him to go anywhere."
Bobby Clark to Celtic move takes twist out of nowhere
It looks like the Clark situation is one that is still not clear. That being said, it is not unheard of for loan deals to be cut short in order to accommodate permanent moves.
Celtic were on the other side of the table not too long ago. Alex Valle left the club in the middle of the season, going back to Barcelona, only to join Como FC, where he has proven to be a much bigger success.
It remains to be seen if something similar plays out between Celtic, Clark, RB Salzburg and Derby County as well. One thing is clear though, the Hoops could do with some fresh ideas in the middle of the park and the former Liverpool youngster, still just 20 years of age, could bring just that.