Celtic now know much they likely would have had to pay to guarantee Kelechi Iheanacho's stay after failing to keep the forward. The Bhoys wanted to re-sign Iheanacho after they allowed him to leave at the end of his short-term contract at the end of June.
Celtic then moved to re-sign Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who was on a very similar deal, and they tried to re-sign Iheanacho, with Martin O'Neill openly confirming that talks were ongoing.
But in the end, Iheanacho joined Turkish second tier side Bursaspor, rejecting Celtic's offers, which were made up of a big chunk of bonuses, with the Glasgow giants looking to protect themselves against injury issues.
Iheanacho did have some injury issues at the start of his time at the club, and it was reported Celtic wanted to offer £12,000 per week upfront and a further £5,000 per week in bonuses, which were likely largely made up of appearances bonuses.
Iheanacho's wage demands become clear
There have been reports this week that Iheanacho demanded huge money from Celtic, but that always looked suspicious, given the criticism that is being levelled at the club. It suits the club too well for fans to be given a reason to criticise the player instead.
But according to Gürkan Sarıkaya, Iheanacho will be earning roughly £25,000-per-week at Bursaspor, which is not a silly wage demand for a 29-year-old with a rich Premier League background by any means.
There is also a factor of a Turkish club having to pay extra to lure the striker to the country, and indeed to a second division. Realistically, Celtic could almost certainly have agreed a deal at £20,000-per-week, which, again, would have been a more than fair wage for a player with Iheanacho's experience, not to mention he proved himself down the stretch last season.
The emergence of Iheanacho's wage will be seen as a nightmare by those at the club, who will have been happy for fans to believe that Iheanacho had priced himself out of a move. Celtic's failure to pay enough to do a deal only adds to the frustration from fans over this summer's recruitment.
What O'Neill said about failed Iheanacho transfer
Explaining Celtic's failed attempt to sign Iheanacho, O'Neill said earlier this week: “There are always two sides to every transfer. He’s gone, I thought we had a deal with him at the time but that wasn’t the case and so he’s gone to pastures new,.
“The option ran out, that’s fine. But the option would be to take someone on similar terms to before, so that’s where the difference was. Where Kelechi did terrifically well for us as an impact player coming on.
“He started one game in my two spells against Dundee United but it would have been nice to have him for pre-season. He’s chosen to go elsewhere.
“I don’t know what date. I just tried to answer it the best possible way. I thought we had a deal with him but it didn’t materialise. If he’s gone to another club that’s his decision.”
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