It is being widely reported by Alex McLeish that Balde refused to sign a 'confidentiality clause' with the former Rangers manager stating "Balde chose to stay at Celtic because he refused to sign a confidentiality agreement, which meant he couldn't come.
"That was a shame. We were all up for that one at the club, the whole lot of us, but he chose not to leave Celtic on a matter of principle."
However Eck' comments were rubbished in the Daily Record by a 'Celtic Spokesman' who said "The claim that Bobo was asked to sign a confidentiality agreement is absolute nonsense."
Have we not heard comments within the Daily Record from so called 'Celtic Spokesmen' in the past only for the comments to be rubbished by both the Club? Did the Wolves Chairman Mr Moxely not expose this so called Celtic Source as a piece of nonsense during the transfer window in relation to a reported transfer of the same player?
And finally why would Celtic attempt to put the transfer of a player that they are desperate to get off the wage bill in jeopardy by placing a confidentiality clause that would effectively only gag the player should he leave during this transfer window? The very fact that this has ruled out the move would mean that next season, when Bobo's contract is up, that he could say whatever he wanted to whoever was willing to listen. I.e. this confidentiality clause is of absolutely no benefit to Celtic. All it will do is make the player more inclined to dig the dirt next season when he is free of the shackles of a contract.
I think that this whole 'confidentiality clause' is a complete fabrication. The player was told that he was free to find another club, so surely that would mean that Celtic would have no part of any subsequent negotiations? One would have thought that any negotiations would be between Birmingham FC and the Chief Executive of Bobo Balde and no Celtic representative would have been present.
Who to believe?
Yours in Celtic
Clydebuilt