By support

25th Jun, 2018 | 3:09pm

Armstrong transfer deal must be considered a work of genius by Celtic supremo

COMMENT

Recent developments in Stuart Armstrong’s impending move from Southampton to Celtic should have Hoops fans paying tribute to club chief executive Peter Lawwell.

The Daily Record reports that Armstrong’s transfer fee to the Saints is £7million minimum, with plenty of add-ons to be included in the deal, with the 26-year-old’s former side Dundee United also receiving over £500,000.

Lawwell has done a superb job in managing to get around £7million for a player who has only one year left to run on his contract, and who is coming off an indifferent season at best for the Bhoys.

Some fans might think the deal is undervalued, particularly when you consider how much the Scotland international could be worth if he played in England.

But the problem with that argument is that the Hoops are faced with losing Armstrong for nothing at the end of next season, and that is something that Lawwell and Brendan Rodgers would not have considered for even one second.

The player doesn’t want to be at the club any longer, that much is obvious, and the fact that Lawwell has managed to get this fee for the player is a superb bit of business.

Lawwell might well be criticised by Hoops fans on occasion – and sometimes with good reason – but there is no doubt that he has pulled off a masterstoke in getting the fee he did for Armstrong.

In other Celtic news, Alan Brazil has questioned why the Hoops didn’t buy this player

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