Journalist Stephen McGowan has spoke about Manchester City’s football partnerships manager, Fergal Harkin, and the possibility of him joining Celtic.
While Celtic’s move for Eddie Howe has fallen through and the Hoops are in talks to appoint Yokohama F Marinos boss Ange Postecoglou, it was suggested some days ago that Harkin had rejected a move to City’s sister club, Lommel, amidst talk of a move to Parkhead.
McGowan spoke about Harkin’s move to Celtic when he appeared on the latest episode of the Go Radio Football Show. He believes that ‘all bets are off’ in Celtic’s chase of Harkin and that Howe was not looking to appoint Harkin if the ex-Bournemouth boss was on his way to Parkhead.
Do you expect Harkin to be appointed soon?
Yes
No
McGowan was asked whether Harkin being part of the backroom team was a problem for Howe and revealed more details about the Manchester City man.
He stated: “I don’t think that was an issue. I think Celtic made it clear that he [Howe] could pick his own backroom team. I don’t think Eddie Howe would’ve wanted Fergal Harkin, I saw Fergal Harkin and speculation that he was possibly an option to come in with an Enzo Maresca as a Plan B if they couldn’t get Eddie Howe.
“I don’t think he was ever going to work with Eddie Howe. I think Eddie Howe was quite determined to get his own team in. Will they turn to Fergal Harkin now? Possibly, all bets are off.”
TIF Thoughts on Harkin…
Going by McGowan’s words, perhaps Celtic’s chances of bringing in Harkin have now increased since Howe isn’t joining anymore.
Harkin brings the experience of dealing with things at a Premier League club, as he was in charge of keeping an eye on Man City’s loan players.
It shows that Harkin understands the idea of transfers and considering that Celtic and Man City have exchanged players in the past, he may not have too many problems settling in. The fact that even Postecoglou has worked with Harkin in the past is a positive, and may give the club a clear direction in terms of transfers as they undergo major changes.
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