Why I have to let Ki go NEIL LENNON says Robin van Persie’s £22million move to Manchester United shows why Celtic must cash in on Ki Sung-Yueng.
The South Korean star is on the verge of sealing a £6m move to Swansea City.
SunSport can reveal the deal includes a big-money sell-on clause for the 23-year-old midfielder.
And Lennon, in Sweden for the Champions League qualifier with Helsingborgs, insisted: “At the end of the day it makes good business sense.
“It keeps everything ticking along nicely for us. That’s where we are at the minute. We are developing younger players to move them on.
“But we are not different in that from some of the top clubs. Arsenal had to sell van Persie, it was a necessity.
“Ki only has 15 months left on his contract and we think it is a good offer.”
Swans’ paymasters are willing to stump up big cash along with the promise of a bumper return if they sell Ki on.
The player was back home in Seoul last night thinking over the move.
Arsenal, QPR and Fulham have all been keeping tabs on the situation and could yet make a last-gasp swoop.
But Celts insiders told SunSport they expect the Swansea switch to be rubber-stamped today.
The transfer would be a good deal for Celts who paid out just £2m for Ki three years ago. Lennon has revealed he does NOT expect to be given any of the cash to bolster his squad.
He said: “It will help to fund the debt. We will see where we go after these two games. We will see if we have any money to spend.”
Lennon’s chances of being given money for transfers depend on Celts getting past the Swedes and reaching the group stages.
That would guarantee the club at least £15m — which would mean Lennon wouldn’t have to sell any players NEXT season.
Asked if the money would change the situation he added: “Yeah, probably. There is a nice pot of money there that will keep the club stable for quite a while.
“Maybe we won’t have to break the squad up.
“Maybe we can enhance the squad.”
Lennon has targets in mind if Celtic do make the group stage. He added: “It’s been frustrating that nothing has happened in the transfer market but I understand the circumstances.
“About two weeks ago we decided to forget bringing anybody in, just concentrate on what we’ve got.
“We have a good squad. We don’t want to lose Ki but it’s not going to put a huge dent in what we already have.
“We were always going to have to sell one of our players. You just have to be pragmatic.
“You can bang your head against a brick wall but then you have to say to yourself: ‘Right, let’s work at this — let’s go with it’.”
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MARTIN O'NEILL - LEGEND 