Candystripes reject Celtic’s trial bid for McGinn
The 21-year-old is being chased by several clubs, including Swansea City, who had him and his agent, Gerry Carlile, as guests at their game against Cardiff at the weekend.
McGinn was recently named young player of the year by the Professional Footballers’ Association of Ireland, days before he made his debut for Northern Ireland.
Celtic’s desire to take him on trial could be explained by the failure of former Derry City player Paddy McCourt to pin down a first-team place at Parkhead since signing for the SPL giants in June.
However, Candystripes chairman Pat McDaid will not be sanctioning any trial for the talented youngster.
“Celtic enquired about Niall but there has been no bid yet,” he said.
“About a fortnight ago they asked to take him on a week’s trial but we rejected that out of hand. We are not sending any players on trial.
“I was surprised by Celtic’s request in that Niall is a full-time player playing in a professional league and he has just been named young player of the year.
“If any club wants him then they will have to make an offer.
“We have had a couple of offers from Championship clubs but neither have met our valuation.
“Niall has two years left on his contract so we would be happy for him to stay at Derry City.”
Meanwhile the Bhoys last night confirmed Shunsuke Nakamura will not be leaving the club before the end of the season.
The Japan midfielder, whose contract expires in the summer, appeared set to return home in the January transfer window after former club Yokohama F Marinos prepared a reported £3 million bid for the 30-year-old.
But the move appears to have collapsed, amid suggestions Yokohama’s parent company, car giants Nissan, had decided to pull the plug due to the credit crunch.
A Celtic statement said: “Celtic didn’t want Naka to leave and Naka didn’t want to leave. Therefore, there was never any prospect of Shunsuke leaving in January.”
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