The Celtic board lied blatantly about the Gvidas Gineitis deal. Torino wanted just £6.85 million for him, while the board’s SMSM messengers ran with a price tag of £13 million

Yesterday, LRT, the Lithuanian national broadcaster, sat down with Gvidas Gineitis’ agent and got him to go through the whole summer, deal by deal.

Dmitrijus Vinokurovas talked about Salzburg, Besiktas, Club Brugge, Hoffenheim, Leeds, Southampton, Crystal Palace and a phone call from the sporting director of Hull City.

And he talked about us.

What he said about us should have every single Celtic supporter absolutely raging this morning.

Because Torino’s asking price for Gvidas Gineitis was €8 million.

Eight million euros.

At the going rate, that is £6.85 million.

Last Friday I wrote that I did not believe the £13 million figure the Record had suddenly produced, and it turns out I was being far too generous.

You can read that one here.

The line we were fed was that Celtic were prepared to go to £9 million and that Torino would not shift from a valuation of “closer to £13m”.

That was the story, and every last one of the board’s obedient messengers ran with it.

I said at the time that the number had appeared from nowhere on the second last day of the window, after a full summer of £8 to £9 million.

I was wrong about one thing, though.

I thought Torino had maybe nudged their price up at the death.

They hadn’t.

They were sitting there the whole time asking for less than the £9 million Celtic were supposedly willing to pay.

So we were not priced out of this deal, we were never actually in it.

Read that again if you need to, because it is the whole story in one line.

Torino wanted £6.85 million.

Celtic were briefed out as being ready to spend £9 million.

And there is still no Gvidas Gineitis at Celtic Park.

Here is why, straight from the man who was in the room.

Personal terms with Gvidas were never agreed.

Celtic said they wanted to agree with Torino first.

Usually it is done the other way around.

They never made a final offer, although the opportunity was there.

Torino were ready to talk about it.

No final offer.

Two months after I first wrote about our interest in him on the 1st of July, and Silent Mike never even put a bid on the table.

How do you brief the media that you were priced out of a deal you never bid on?

The agent also confirmed what we all suspected about who actually wanted this player.

The football people wanted him.

There was a video call with the coaching staff and Vinokurovas said they were extremely positive about the boy.

Then he said this, and it is the most damning line in the whole piece.

Not everybody in the club’s leadership was as convinced about the transfer as the coaches were.

He explained that a deal of that size needs four or five decision makers to agree, and that if one of them doesn’t want to do it – especially the one who controls the money – then it simply doesn’t happen.

Who controls the money at Celtic?

Answers on a postcard.

And then there is Martin O’Neill, a man who has been messed around by this board since the day he walked back through the door.

According to the agent, after the humiliation in Austria, O’Neill went to the board and told them that if they had signed Gineitis and one other target beforehand, we would be in the Champions League.

Vinokurovas added, “and I think that is true”.

So do I.

He also said some of the players who came off our bench that night were simply not good enough, and that Gineitis is stronger than a few of them.

Did any of us watching that shambles in Linz think our bench was good enough?

We know he’s right.

What we got instead was Joel van den Berg for €3.5 million and Oliver Sørensen on loan.

Cheaper, and that is all that has ever mattered.

Spare a thought for Torino in all of this, because they got treated with the same contempt that we get.

They had already brought in Rolando Mandragora and Daniel Bragança in anticipation of the sale.

They waited while Celtic sold Arne Engels to West Ham for €25 million.

Then they waited while Celtic found out whether they were in the Champions League or not.

Then, nothing.

And what did Torino get for their patience?

Not a rejected bid, not a haggle, not a final number.

Nothing at all.

Salzburg, by the way, had personal terms with the player basically agreed – they only fell down because they wanted Maurits Kjærgaard included in the deal and Torino said no.

That is what an actual attempt to sign a footballer looks like.

So the board messed around Torino, they messed around the player, they messed around their own manager, and then they lied to us about all of it.

Because that is the routine now, isn’t it?

Fail to do the deal, then have your friends in the SMSM tell the support that the other club got greedy.

Nine times out of ten the fans swallow it and blame somebody else.

Not this time.

A Lithuanian journalist has done more digging on a Celtic transfer than our entire Scottish sports media managed in three months.

£6.85 million.

Two months to get it done.

Is it any wonder we are in the Europa League again?

And they couldn’t even be bothered making an offer.

Sack the board!

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