Jackson reveals the timeline on the transfer target Rodgers missed out on

Keith Jackson believes that Owen Beck was a serious transfer target for Celtic- until he came off the bench to play the final 10 minutes in Liverpool’s 4-0 win over Bournemouth on Sunday.

After an impressive half season on loan at Dundee the left-back was being discussed as a potential Celtic target but having played for two clubs this season he won’t be moving to Glasgow during the current transfer window.

Jackson paints a dramatic picture of Rodgers finding out about Beck’s appearance at Bournemouth as he spoke to the written media after Celtic’s Scottish Cup win over Buckie Thistle.

Having known the requirements of his squad it seems to be a high risk policy waiting to see if Beck avoids playing time for Liverpool before Celtic can make a transfer move.

Recounting Sunday’s timeline in the Daily Record, Jackson explains:

On Sunday, moments after he addressed the broadcast media following his side’s 5-0 Scottish Cup battering of little Buckie Thistle, it was left to a band of us from the written brigade to break some awkward news to Celtic’s manager in the corridor outside.

Because, pretty much as he was taking his seat behind the microphones, Owen Beck was being subbed on by Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp for the remaining 27 minutes of a 4-0 second half thumping of Bournemouth.

Rodgers didn’t say much. As a matter of fact, he brushed it off with an unconvincing smile and a shrug of the shoulders. But this impromptu ambush did appear at least to take him by surprise, as well it might.

Celtic, after all, had been actively pursuing Beck as a potential January target right up until that very moment. And Record Sport has been told by sources close to the youngster that Beck was more than willing to get around the table to discuss a potential move to Parkhead either on a permanent basis or an initial short term loan.

So Klopp’s decision to name him among Liverpool’s substitutes at the Vitality Stadium came as an unwelcome inconvenience in the first place. And that was compounded when Beck was told to get stripped for action even though – by doing so – he was slamming the door shut on a return to the top end of the Scottish game following a highly impressive six months at Dundee earlier this season.

Beck has been left with two options. He can either remain on Merseyside, twiddling his thumbs as Klopp’s fourth choice left back behind the returning Andy Robertson and Konstantinos Tsimikas as well as Joe Gomez who has been holding the fort admirably during their absence.

Or he can ask to be allowed to return to Dundee where, at least, he can continue to impress Rodgers on his own doorstep between now and the end of the current season.

NOTE: Beck came off the bench in the 83^rd minute at Bournemouth, not getting the 27 minutes mentioned by Jackson.

With eight days left in the transfer window it looks like Celtic will be left waiting to see who might become available in the closing days of the window, a complete contrast to the two January’s controlled by Ange Postecoglou.

Home matches against Buckie Thistle and Ross County were the perfect fixtures to introduce new players but other than Nicolas Kuhn it seems that Rodgers will face Derek Adams’ side with the same group of players that finished 2023- minus Reo Hatate, Daizen Maeda and Oh Hyeon-gyu.