Ronny Deila: No chance of Aiden McGeady deal

Ronny Deila has played down the prospect of a Celtic return for Aiden McGeady this month, insisting the winger would have to accept a dramatic cut in wages for any deal to be struck.

McGeady, who left Celtic for Spartak Moscow in a £9.5 million move in the summer of 2010, is out of favour at his current club Everton and could leave during the current transfer window. Celtic have been linked with a loan move for the 29-year-old winger who needs regular first-team football to ensure his place in the Republic of Ireland squad for this summer’s Euro 2016 finals.

But Deila has warned that the days of Celtic making big-name marquee signings in January, as they did in the past with the captures of players such as Craig Bellamy and Robbie Keane, are over.

“There’s no chance of that happening,” said the Celtic manager. “We have tried before to get those types of players but they get three times the salary at other places. It’s also more interesting for them to play in England than Scotland. It’s tough and you never say never but it’s a different planet when you talk salaries.

“It has to be players who want to come to Glasgow and play for Celtic, like Carlton Cole has done. He went down a lot in salary to come here.

“We would not be able to pay the salary that the likes of McGeady are on. The difference is so unbelievably big, that’s there is no chance. The wage structure would be broken 10 times over if we did that.”

Deila is also wary of signing loan players while he tries to build a squad capable of success in what he hopes will be another Champions League qualifying campaign for Celtic in July.

“When you get someone and then they leave in the summer it becomes a tough situation afterwards,” added Deila.

“We had that with John Guidetti and Jason Denayer when they came in on loan last season. When they go, and then we sold Virgil van Dijk as well, then suddenly we needed to bring in two new central defenders.

“If there is someone out there who can help you win things, then it’s okay. But when you get loan players, it’s also important to have a buy-out clause so that we can try and make sure they stay here. If not, then you just develop quality for another team and lose that quality when you need it.

“Sometimes you can do it. If you feel you can build a relationship with the player during the time he’s on loan, then maybe you can keep him longer. Maybe with players like McGeady, who has been here before, when he reaches the end of his career he’ll want to come back again. That’s possible, of course. But I haven’t talked with him about that, although these types of names we are talking about.”