Peter Lawwell is notorious for sinking his heels in during negotiations since he loves to get the most out of his money.
As Celtic supporters have discovered over the years, the chairman keeps his money close at hand.
Recent moves like Matt O’Riley, Jota, and Kieran Tierney can show that the seasoned campaigner knows what it takes to get the best value for money when it comes to selling players.
Hearing that the 65-year-old had consented to let one Hoops player depart on a free transfer back in 2014–15 may have come as a bit of a surprise.
Finding out that the management of the other club ultimately turned down the offer was even more perplexing. only to later come to regret it.
Stephen Thompson, the former chairman of Dundee United, remembered the moment his former team was presented with the opportunity to buy Parkhead’s Jackson Irvine for a reduced cost.
It happened when Jackie McNamara, the manager at the time, decided not to recruit John McGinn, a teenage prospect from St Mirren, for a pittance, allowing him to go on to become a Scotland and Premier League sensation through Hibs.
The man now identified as an agent to Celtic midfielders Luke McCowan and Ben Doak, among others, did not have the best forward planning.
Dundee United turned on the opportunity to sign Jackson Irvine and John McGinn.
Thompson holds McNamara accountable for those crucial decisions that led to the team’s relegation from the Scottish Premiership the following season.
Furthermore, he continues to wonder if those players could have had an impact on the fight against the decrease.
“I was sitting in a hotel with Peter Lawwell and Gordon Strachan when I got a call from a guy who works for me saying we had an offer of £60,000 in for John McGinn and do we want to up the bid,” Thompson remembered in an interview with the BBC’s Off the Ball show.
“To what?” I asked. Roughly £150,000? However, I had to call the manager. The manager responded, “No, we didn’t want him any more,” when I told him. I therefore did not raise the bid.
Luke McCowan was brought to Celtic from Dundee by his agent, Jackie McNamara.
“We could have Jackson Irvine for a 30 percent sell-on, according to Peter Lawwell at the same meeting. When I called again, the response was, ‘No, we don’t want him.'”
“Jackson Irvine is now Australia’s captain, and this is the summer before we were demoted.
“We were demoted that season due to a number of decisions that took place that summer.”
During his tenure at Tannadice, Celtic great McNamara had the Tangerines playing some amazing football.
His plans to assemble a formidable United team were severely thwarted when he lost Stuart Armstrong and Gary Mackay-Steven to Celtic; without them, United would be demoted.
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