West Bromwich Albion boss Darren Moore has claimed that winger Oliver Burke will not be remaining at Celtic beyond his current loan deal.
The 21-year-old is set to return to the Baggies when his temporary stint expires in the summer, and Moore has poured cold water over Burke’s current deal being turned into a permanent one.
Moore says that the club have been keeping tabs on the young ace – who has scored two goals for Celtic since he signed this month – and described how “magnificent” it is that Burke is a West Brom player.
“We want to get him back. If Oli is back in the shop window, it’s because he’s doing well for Celtic. But the magnificent thing is he’s our player. He’s being developed to be brought back here for West Brom. We hope to see him back here in the summer after a succession of games and goals,” he said, as quoted by the Scottish Sun.
“He’s in a challenging environment, working with an excellent manager and team. All this will be for the benefit of West Bromwich Albion. We sent Deon up to watch him, so we’re keeping tabs on him.
“We’ll get detailed reports on him both on the pitch and off the pitch. He’s been sent up there to play games and him scoring goals is superb from our perspective.
“A large part of Oli’s career has been missed by not playing games. The players in front of him here were scoring goals, so he found it hard to get regular games. We’ll get him back in the summer and have a player who’s nearer the front line.”
OPINION
Plenty of Celtic fans will no doubt be gutted that Moore has poured cold water over any hopes Burke remaining at the club beyond the end of his loan. He has really set the tone for the rest of the season with his two goals, and there is no doubt that playing regularly with the Hoops is going to transform him into the player that West Brom want him to be. By the looks of it, they will be the ones that reap the benefits of his progression next season, so they must be ecstatic that he has got off to a blistering start at Parkhead. Brendan Rodgers no doubt had a little bit of hope that Burke would remain beyond his loan spell, after all, they really need a player of his energy and pace in the team. It looks like Celtic will have to find a replacement in the summer if Moore’s comments are anything to go by.