£7m McGeady price tag? Don't make me laugh says Mogga

Last updated : 22 August 2009 By Mikbhoy

Tony - you're having a laugh......
The Scottish tabloid media are a strange bunch right enough. Their establishment team are in dire straits financially and Sir Minty of the Murray really needs help to shift the likes of Boydchenko but, in his hour of need, his Laptop Loyal poodles seems to be more intent on enticing EPL bids for Scott Brown and Aiden McGeady rather than the portly Huns forward. Celtic boss Tony Mowbray laughed out loud when it was suggested that Republic of Ireland internationalist McGeady, for instance, could be sold for £7m before the end of the transfer window.

"How much?" said Mowbray. "I don't think so. I am not going to sit here and give prices for any of my players. I want to build a team, not break it up. The reason I am here is to make the team successful for the fans and capable of winning games in a manner they like to watch. You can't do that by selling your best players."

"I don't think there is any suggestions that Aiden McGeady would go anywhere," he added. "I don't think there is any speculation either. You can throw any one of a dozen names in there instead of Aiden. The bottom line for me is that it's no good talking numbers or figures. If anyone wants to enquire about a player, they can pick the phone up. No one has."

Mowbray insisted that he is not under any pressure from his board to sell his prized assets even if, as looks likely, Celtic fail to gain access to the lucrative group stages of the Champions League following the team's 2-0 loss to Arsenal in midweek. "No one has said to me we have to do this or we have to do that." he said. "There is probably too much made of the £10m of Champions League money or whatever it is. Of course, it makes it easier if you are successful because, at the right time and with the right player, you can add to your squad and make it better. But I am not sitting there thinking I have to bring in £20m, £10m, £5m or £1m. What I do want to do is rotate the squad around and get it to my liking. There is no pressure on me to offload but there are players who, if we got the right bid, we would let go and get money in to see what we could do with it."

"I think it's important that we keep our best players," said Mogga. "The last week of the transfer window is when things start to happen at football clubs. Teams are sitting there hoping to move so-and-so on but don't want to be too anxious because they don't want the price to drop."

"Some clubs start to panic and start offering much more money than the player is worth." he said "Other clubs are pushing people out the door and other teams are getting bargains. I would suggest there is a potential for a bit of movement and we would hope that there would be. But if there isn't then I won't be sitting here after the Hibs game next week disappointed. I have said from day one I am happy with the squad."