Source: Daily_Mail
Aiden's aiming higher: McGeady keen to quit Celtic as Birmingham plan raid
Celtic winger Aiden McGeady last night admitted he wants to test his talents in one of Europe's top leagues. [LNB]Despite Celtic's exit from Europe on Wednesday night, however, the Republic of Ireland international insists he is in no rush to quit Parkhead. [LNB]Birmingham City manager Alex McLeish is keen to lure the 23-year-old south in next month's transfer window as part of an anticipated £40million spending spree. [LNB]High flier: McGeady wants to play in one of the world's top leagues whenhe leaves Celtic Park[LNB] [LNB]Sevilla and Bayern Munich, meanwhile, are just two of the continental clubs who have run checks on Celtic's star player. [LNB]Back to his best under Tony Mowbray, however, McGeady insists he iswilling to bide his time before leaving when the time is right for allparties. With three-and-a-half years to run on his current deal,McGeady is happy to continue his education at Parkhead. [LNB]He said: 'I'm still fairly young. I'm 23 and every player hasaspirations to play at the top level. I won't deny I feel that way,too, but things are starting to go a bit better here than they werebefore. [LNB]'I'm happy at Celtic. There was a point a few months back when Iprobably wasn't, but I'm starting to get back to enjoying it the way Idid before. And that's down to the change of style in the footballwe're being asked to play. [LNB] Celtic 2 Hapoel Tel Aviv 0: Boss Mowbray rues lost chances but vows that Bhoys will be back strongerCeltic new boy Ki Sung-Yong sets his sights on debut goal against RangersCeltic boss Mowbray set to make bid for Hungarian defender Korcsmar Celtic 3 St Mirren 1: Bhoys are back on top of the league after Parkhead stroll [LNB]'It's down to the club. If a team comes in with a bid, I'm stillunder contract until 2013. Like I say, though, everyone wants to playin England or abroad and I won't deny I have those ambitions.[LNB] 'However, it's not up to me whether or not I go. I'm aware of thetransfer talk and flattered by it, but I don't take too much notice. Ifa bid comes in and the club accepts it, then that's not down to me.' [LNB]Manager Mowbray is willing to sacrifice a 'big name' to facilitate a rebuilding job at Parkhead. [LNB]Sportsmail understands,however, that McGeady would be a last-resort sale. Rated in the £10mbracket, it remains to be seen whether the player himself would seeBirmingham as a fitting stage for his abilities. [LNB] Target: Former Rangers boss Alex McLeish is reportedly keen to take McGeady south of the border[LNB][LNB]As the Old Firm struggle to cope with the loss of European revenuefor the season, however, player sales look increasingly necessary tobalance the books. [LNB] Discussing the Euro exit, McGeady added: 'It's disappointing, but weknew before the kick-off on Wednesday that we'd be underdogs becauseHamburg losing two on the bounce was unlikely to happen.[LNB] 'However, we can take a lot of heart from how we played againstHapoel. The real frustration is that it was out of our hands beforethat game - it has been a disappointing campaign.' [LNB]Celtic continue to scour the transfer market for Januaryreinforcements and Sportsmail can reveal the club will handhighly-rated Slovakian Under-21 international striker Milos Lacny aweek-long trial from Monday. [LNB]The 21-year-old's club, MFK Ruzomberok, confirmed the news on their official website yesterday.[LNB] A move to Birmingham would see McGeady team up with former Rangers midfielder Barry Ferguson [LNB]Spokesman Michal Mertinyak said: 'While we have no offer on thetable, negotiations may start when he has completed a series of tests.'[LNB]The Parkhead side are also assessing Ujpest Dosza's Hungarianprospects Zsolt Korcsmar, Daniel Kovacs, Matyas Magos and KrisztianSimon. [LNB]Celtic, however, will not be signing Honduran international defender Osman Chavez. [LNB]'We are not going to take Osman,' said Tony Mowbray. 'He is going to be leaving us. [LNB]'He did exceptionally well on trial, but I have made the decision heis not quite right for us. We will wait to find extra competition forplaces in that area of the team.' [LNB]Estonian winger Sander Puri is also under analysis at Lennoxtown after leaving Levadia Tallinn, but looks unlikely to sign. [LNB]Mowbray said: 'There's nothing to get over-excited about with him, I would suggest.'[LNB] Celtic 2 Hapoel Tel Aviv 0: Boss Mowbray rues lost chances but vows that Bhoys will be back strongerCeltic new boy Ki Sung-Yong sets his sights on debut goal against RangersCeltic boss Mowbray set to make bid for Hungarian defender Korcsmar Celtic 3 St Mirren 1: Bhoys are back on top of the league after Parkhead stroll [LNB] Explore more:People:Aiden McGeady, Alex McLeish, Tony MowbrayPlaces:Birmingham, Republic of Ireland, United Kingdom, Europe, Celtic Park
