Former Celtic midfielder Jonny Hayes has gone back to Aberdeen and will not take a penny out of the club until next year it has emerged, according to SunSport.
The player’s wages will be deferred for a whole year before the Dons will pay out on their new signing.
As soon as I heard about this, my first thought was; nobody tell Peter Lawwell!
The Celtic chief executive is thrifty at the best of times and a tough negotiator. We could picture Lawwell asking half the new signings not to get paid for a year! It’s not the best bargaining chip. Jonny made good money at Celtic and is sound financially to make that sacrifice.
The players at Celtic are due to come off their wage cuts and deferred wages at the end of June. At which point the club will still be losing lots of revenue but have to pay the bills as normal. It’s trying times, and while I think Jonny Hayes’s Aberdeen deal is an exception, Celtic must do something to get the budget under control.
