NADIR CIFTCI’S future looks unsettled after reports emerged from England the Dundee United striker was set to turn down the chance of a £1 million-plus move to Wigan.
The League One club had a bid accepted by the Tayside outfit and he was given permission to discuss personal terms with ex-Celtic skipper Gary Caldwell, who took over as team boss late last season.
United had already rejected an offer of £900,000 for the controversial Turkish frontman.
On Tuesday morning, though, the 23-year-old reported for the first day of pre-season training with his United team-mates.
And as the day progressed, there were strong suggestions he’d said a polite “no thanks” to the Latics.By the afternoon, neither club were in a position to confirm that.
And Wigan would like to persuade him that, despite back-to-back relegations, their long-term future is at the top end of English football.
It’s understood he does not fancy a move to the English third tier and views staying at Tannadice for the final year of his contract a better option.However, with the SPFL champions showing an interest, there remains every chance Ciftci has kicked his last ball for United.
Celtic will now ponder making an enhanced bid for the player to bring him to Glasgow to team up with his former Tannadice team-mates Stuart Armstrong and Gary Mackay-Steven, who joined the club for a combined £2million fee in January.
Reports from Dundee suggest that United would want a bid approaching £2M from Celtic before they would accept, given the unrest that was created by the double transfer in January and the subsequent series of defeats in the two cups and the league against the champions.
Celtic could however make it known to the player to sit tight and see out his final year at Tannadice before joining Celtic next summer, for free. Bluff and double bluff is the order of the day. It would appear that the player wants to go to Celtic and if that is the case it will be very hard for Dundee United to resist.
