{"id":678062,"date":"2026-01-06T16:41:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T16:41:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/678062\/"},"modified":"2026-01-06T16:41:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T16:41:13","slug":"celtic-not-happy-with-liverpool-as-deal-blocked-for-teenage-defender","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/678062\/","title":{"rendered":"Celtic ‘not happy’ with Liverpool as deal blocked for teenage defender"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Celtic are blocking a move to Liverpool for one of their academy talents, it is being reported.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dara Jikiemi reportedly agreed terms with Liverpool<\/a> last month, missing youth matches for the Hoops ahead of a proposed move.<\/p>\n

The 15-year-old defender is a Scottish youth international, and is yet to sign his first professional contract.<\/p>\n

Jikiemi had also been pursued by Nottingham Forest, with the club bracing themselves for bids ahead of the January transfer window.<\/p>\n

But now, things have seemingly hit a standstill, with Celtic<\/a> unhappy over proposed compensation they would receive for the teenager.<\/p>\n

Were Celtic right to invest \u00a320 million in Barrowfield with so many academy players leaving? <\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc47 Join the debate; share your insight. Use the comment button on the bottom left to have your say <\/p>\n

Celtic starlet Dara Jikeimi\u2019s Liverpool move halted <\/p>\n

Celtic have been in this movie before, losing Ben Gannon-Doak<\/a> in similar circumstances to the same club in 2022.<\/p>\n

Liam Smith, Aidan Borland and Barry Hepburn have all left in similar circumstances in recent years.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Livid Peter Grant hammers \u2018disrespectful\u2019 Wilfried Nancy over late Celtic decision<\/a><\/p>\n

\"ManchesterPhoto by Robbie Jay Barratt \u2013 AMA\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

And now, according to This is Anfield,<\/a> there will be no Liverpool move for Jikeimi for now.<\/p>\n

Instead, they will be signing Senegalese youngster Talla Ndiaye and Austrian Ifeanyi Ndukwe for their under-21 squad.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, The Secret Scout<\/a> has reported that Celtic are \u2018not happy\u2019 and are \u2018digging in heels\u2019 regarding fee and compensation for Jikiemi.<\/p>\n

Typically, in deals for players as young as this, clubs will negotiate packages which include fees, sell-ons and, most importantly, sell-on clauses.<\/p>\n

With young players not on long-term professional contracts, clubs in Celtic\u2019s position are pretty powerless to negotiate when players want to leave.<\/p>\n

Regardless, Celtic are clearly holding out for what they feel they deserve, and this is causing a delay in the move for now.<\/p>\n

The first thing I would do if I was on the Celtic board is \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 <\/p>\n

\"DermotDermot Desmond arrives at Celtic Park
\nCredit: Getty Images\/Ian MacNicol <\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc47 Join the debate; share your insight. Use the comment button on the bottom left to have your say <\/p>\n

Celtic\u2019s current academy prospects<\/p>\n

Colby Donovan<\/a> is the most recent academy graduate into the first team. He has made nine league appearances this season.<\/p>\n

Kyle Ure and Jude Bonnar are on loan at Scott Brown\u2019s<\/a> Ayr United, with Brown recently praising them both.<\/p>\n

Mark Wilson\u2019s<\/a> Partick Thistle have Josh Clarke and Ben McPherson on loan \u2013 they also had Sean McArdle until he was recalled by the Hoops in January.<\/p>\n

Emmanuel Obidiwe, Finlay Hale and Samuel Isiguzo are among the standout talents currently in the B team<\/p>\n

Join Our Newsletter <\/p>\n

Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Celtic are blocking a move to Liverpool for one of their academy talents, it is being reported. Dara…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":678063,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8815],"tags":[748,2353,205930,393,4884,9816,179,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-678062","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-liverpool","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-celtic","10":"tag-dara-jikiemi","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-january-transfer-window","14":"tag-liverpool","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115849152819294926","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/678062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=678062"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/678062\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/678063"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=678062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=678062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=678062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}