Done deal: Defender signs after Celtic agree terms
By Danny Wright
St. Etienne have confirmed that they have completed the signing of defender Saidy Janko from Celtic.
The French Ligue 1 outfit announced on their official Twitter account and official website on Friday afternoon that the 21-year-old had put pen-to-paper on a four-year deal.
Janko moved to Celtic from Manchester United just two years ago but failed to make much of an impact as he earned just 19 appearances across all competitions.
He has been a key part in the United Under-23 squad prior to his move to Parkhead, and big things were expected of him.
However the four-times Switzerland Under-21 right-back failed to show Brendan Rodgers that he was worthy of a place in his plans and spent last season on loan in the English Championship with Barnsley.
Janko then struggled to hold down a spot in Paul Heckingbottom’s first team at Oakwell, playing just 14 times across all competitions.
He scored and earned an assist in his eight-minute long debut for Barnsley in a 4-0 thrashing of Wolves, but things never really moved on from there.
The ex-Zurich youngster will now hook up with a St. Etienne team that finished eighth in Ligue 1 last season.
Football Insider Verdict
Janko was a fairly poor buy from Ronny Deila, and is one of many flops to have walked through the doors at Parkhead in recent years. Rodgers managed to root out most of the deadwood, but couldn’t completely get rid of Janko as he spent last season out on loan. He has the potential to become a good player, but it just doesn’t seem he will have the chance to do that with Rodgers, especially after a less-than-impressive spell with Barnsley. A move nearer to his homeland could see the young right-back make a marked improvement and perhaps return to British football in the future. St. Etienne are a good side, and proved that with their Europa League campaign last time out, so he has definitely not took a step down.
In other Celtic news, Scott Brown has warned that this key Hoops man could be attracting attention from Real Madrid – but it’s not Moussa Dembele.
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