Celtic could land West Brom midfielder Rekeem Harper for just £235,000 this summer, according to reports in the local media.
As the 19-year-old is out of contract at the end of June, the compensation the Baggies will be owed is nominal, much like how Moussa Dembele was recruited from Fulham in 2016.
Some supporters on Twitter think the move for Harper is worth a gamble:
We signed Dembele under the same circumstances, worth a punt I’d say
— Celtic Wallpapers (@WallpaperCfc) 22 May 2019
Just about our price range
— jim mcguire (@JimMcguire87) 22 May 2019
— Stephen McCabe (@stephenmccabe25) 22 May 2019
Its a loophole we are as well using. Similar to how we got Dembele on the cheap.
— Great White (@0cc4bf4f86c446f) 22 May 2019
Naaa the boy gets games for West Brom and they nearly got promoted sign him Henderson isn’t that good just now
— kilmurray (@kilmurraybhoy) 22 May 2019
Others are more sceptical that CEO Peter Lawwell will be able to get the deal over the line:
We’ll miss out on him as Lawell tries to negotiate compensation fee down to £230k
— Gaz (@gazzathomson) 22 May 2019
Peter will get that down to 50k.
— Sanfranceltic (@Sme51899360) 22 May 2019
Should we even be attempting to buy players while we have no manager? Jedi”s or not?
— clyde (@monkeyhouse7) 22 May 2019
As Scotland is a foreign league, Celtic only have to pay Fifa’s standard international compensation package which is £235,000.
If Harper was to move to another English team the fee would have been decided by the Professional Football Compensation Committee (PFCC), which would have been a significantly larger amount.
Signing Harper is, therefore, a very low-risk move for Celtic. Despite the teenager only having made 34 senior appearances, he has room to develop and could prove a bargain in the long run.
