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After circulating constant rumors of Darlington Nagbe’s impending departure from the Portland Timbers, the Scottish Sun have changed this up today and are now reporting that Glasgow Celtic’s pursuit of the Timbers midfielder is now off.
According to the Sun, Celtic informed Nagbe today that they were walking away from the talks which would have seen him join the Scottish Premier League side for a $3.7 million transfer fee.
Others, however, see the end of talks differently and multiple sources are reporting on Twitter that it was the Timbers who walked away from the deal rather than Celtic.
I’m told the Timbers — not Celtic — put an end to the discussions about a potential transfer of Nagbe this morning. #RCTID
— Chris Rifer (@ChrisRifer) December 27, 2016
Confirming this morning @Timbers rejected Nagbe deal from @celticfc for multiple reasons. #MLS
— Taylor Twellman (@TaylorTwellman) December 27, 2016
For the Timbers, a player of Nagbe’s quality and versatility was always going to be difficult to replace, particularly during an offseason in which the team was already dealing with significant turnover and looking to make several big signings for the first team.
Additionally, it seemed that Celtic was always looking to get Nagbe for a steal, with reports listing Celtic’s initial bid at something in the vicinity of $2 million dollars, an extremely low valuation for a player of Nagbe’s caliber.
Interestingly, the most recent report from the Sun does include some quotes on Nagbe, this time coming from Scottish legend and former Timbers head coach John Spencer. Spencer praises Nagbe, calling him the best American player in MLS, and remarks that the reported bid is surprisingly low .