What makes Luke McCowan a £1m player but not Danny Armstrong?
The 26-year-olds are similar in more ways than one - but Celtic were willing to pay the going rate to Dundee for the former, while interest in the Killie star was minimal.
Luke McCowan is a fantastic player and purely from a human perspective, you’d have to be cold-hearted not to be pleased for someone signing for their boyhood club and all of the emotions that come with that.
The midfielder’s facial expressions were caught on camera last Friday night as he walked down the tunnel at Celtic Park to be unveiled as Celtic’s final deadline day signing of the summer transfer window. He showcased ‘pinch me’ moments of sheer awe that we’d all feel if we lived our dream of playing professional football for the club we supported growing up. So, a disclaimer before we go any further – the purpose of this piece is not to take away from McCowan, his career achievements and his dream move.
The champions paid £1m to Dundee for his services, as Brendan Rodgers bolstered the depth of his options in the middle of the park. It was a drop in the ocean compared to the £11m they shelled out to sign Arne Engels from Augsburg in Germany on the same day, but it seems certain that Rodgers will manage to get a tune out of the cultured central midfielder.
The Dens Park side won a watch with the transfer. To pocket seven figures – plus future add-ons – for a player, captain or not, with less than 12 months remaining on his deal is outstanding business. You simply have to say fair play.
Last week, I wrote about the potential scenario of Kilmarnock selling Danny Armstrong before the window closed at 11pm on August 30. Weighing up the situation, the conclusion reached was that unless an offer of over £500,000 landed on Billy Bowie’s desk, then Killie would be better served holding onto their star player, benefitting from his talents and losing him for free at the end of the season. I’m pleased that situation played out, and unless he’s sold for a minimal fee in January, he’s our player for another season.
Of course, like most of his teammates, Armstrong hasn’t played anywhere near as well as he can during the opening six weeks of the new campaign. But as that dull, over-used saying suggests, his form may dip but his class will always remain.
Both Killie and Armstrong can feel hard done by that no bid of £1m was made to prise him away from Rugby Park. Yes, I did want him to stay at the club heading into the final few days of the window. However, my overarching view of the situation was that in order to kick-start a sustainable, self-preserving transfer model properly, the club had to aim to sell Danny at the top ticket price as early as possible during the summer. Once it became clear offers of that ilk weren’t forthcoming – for what reason I can’t particularly understand – of course, that’s when outlooks had to change.
As far as we’re all aware, Bolton were the only bidders. The League One title favourites offered a measly £400k in mid-July – an easy one for Derek McInnes & Co. to consign to the bin. The gaffer maintains he’s relaxed about the situation, as he publicly let it be known that Armstrong won’t be renewing his contract which is due to expire in May 2025. Despite the best efforts to try and drum up some interest in Killie’s best creative spark, no further offers arrived.
So, when pondering the situation over the last seven days, it begs a couple of questions: what does McCowan have that Armstrong doesn’t? What makes him worth a punt at £1m, but not Armstrong?
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