'Had it in their grasp'

Well, there it is. Long-term Celtic target has finally left Motherwell to join Udinese.

Miller sealed the deal last night as all the Celtic chat filtered into the background as he pledged the next four years of his career to the Serie A.

Miller was first linked to Celtic when Brendan Rodgers returned to the club in the summer of 2023.

But despite Rodgers being ‘desperate’ to take Miller to Celtic, a deal was never done despite the Parkhead club making an offer earlier this year.

Now at Udinese, Celtic have been told that Miller wanted to join them and when he was ‘willing’ to make the Parkhead move.

Photo by Wart Brinkerhof/Marcel ter Bals/DeFodi Images/DeFodi via Getty Images

Lennon Miller was ‘willing’ to move to Celtic in January

Celtic were strongly linked with Miller in January of this year and Mark Guidi says that the young Scotland star was ready to make the move to Glasgow then.

Guidi told The Go Radio Football Show, “A great move, another young Scot goes to the Serie A.

“And Udinese had to beat off a lot of competition. So credit to Motherwell.

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“They dug in there, they hung in there, negotiated hard, and they’ve got a fantastic deal for themselves.

“A part of me is disappointed not to see him in Scottish football week in, week out because he’s still young.

“Celtic had it in their grasp to go and do it. Brendan Rodgers was desperate to get him in the door in January and the club missed the opportunity to go and get the deal over the line.

“I think at that point, the boy was willing to go to Celtic.

“But then he decided he wanted to go abroad and he had a few options. He had looked at McTominay and he looked at Gilmour and he looked at Shea Adams and Lewis Ferguson, Josh Doig, all those boys, all doing really well.

“And there’s another one and I think that young Lennon Miller will be absolutely fine in Serie A and will really flourish.”

Why Lennon Miller chose Udinese over Celtic

Celtic have now lost out on one of Scotland’s brightest talents. But if the young midfielder wanted the Parkhead move, why then did he eventually choose Udinese?

Italian football expert James Richardson explains, “They have certainly been quite forward thinking about how they scout and develop players for some time. They bring in players with potential, improve them and sell them for more money than they paid.

“That said, there’s a pretty positive vibe about them under their German manager, Kosta Runjic. Their pre-season results have certainly been really good (they have beaten Dutch team Twente and German side Werder Bremen) for what that’s worth. They’ve been looking pretty decent.”

At least, now, Celtic and the fans can put the Lennon Miller chat behind them and move on but there may well be that tinge of regret at not pushing harder to sign the now Udinese midfielder.

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