Celtic to eye up opportunity to invest in Shamrock Rovers

Celtic majority stakeholder Dermot Desmond is reportedly set to meet with Shamrock Rovers counterpart Ray Wilson to discuss an investment opportunity in the Dublin club.

It is understood that a potential deal would see Celtic assume a substantial stake in the club with a view of the Scottish champions having first call on players coming through the Rovers academy. According to Philip Quinn of The Irish Daily Mail, Brendan Rodgers' side could also send players in need of game time over to the League of Ireland club with the two clubs playing each other in summer friendlies over the last two years. https://twitter.com/EFFanning/status/1081005494276419584 Shamrock Rovers opened their new training base at the Roadstone sports facility in Kingswood in 2017 and former midfielder and current assistant Stephen McPhail said that it is important that the club create an environment where young players will want to stay and develop in Dublin.

"It is a duty of us players that have just retired to give something back as well," McPhail said at the launch of the Roadstone complex. "We have to try to make this country a place that nobody wants to run away from. "When I was growing up, all I was thinking of was trying to get away. I love Rovers, I loved supporting them as a kid and I would have loved this opportunity to play at least a few years. "We know where we are in the chain – we know we’re not going to be able to keep our best players. All of these countries have a lot more money and that will drive people there. But we have to give our players opportunities to be footballers."