Stoke City have completed a big deal today, as midfielder Joe Allen has surprisingly agreed to an extension of his deal with the Potters until 2022.
The Potters were relegated to the Championship this past season, bringing an end to their 10-year spell in the Premier League, and also parting ways with manager Paul Lambert.
Gary Rowett has been signed as his replacement, and after the acquisition of Benik Afobe and Oghenekaro Etebo, Stoke has secured arguably their biggest deal of this summer so far.
Midfielder Allen – a vital cog of the Stoke team since his arrival from Liverpool in 2016 – has signed a new four-year deal with the club, tying him to the Potters till 2022.
Allen, 28, had been expected to return to the Premier League, but the Welshman will be playing Championship football next term – and that may endanger Celtic’s hopes of signing him.
According to a recent report by The Mirror, Celtic was keen to bring Allen to Scotland, potentially reuniting him with his former Swansea and Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers.
Rodgers has been repeatedly linked with an interest for Allen since his emergence as Celtic boss, but Allen’s new contract may just mean that the Bhoys’ boss has to come to terms with the fact that a reunion might be impossible.
Stoke can now place a hefty price tag on Allen with the protection of his new deal, a fee most likely beyond Celtic even with the Champions League money, while Allen will be 32 by the time his contract runs down.
Rodgers may not even be at Parkhead in 2022, and while a reunion made sense once upon a time, it now seems that Rodgers may never get the chance to work with Allen at Celtic after today’s shock news.