Flood ‘honoured’ as dream Celtic deal completed

CELTIC have completed the signing of Willo Flood on a two-and-a-half-year contract.

The midfielder opened talks with the Scottish champions less than 24 hours after his penalty miss helped send the club into the Co-operative Insurance Cup final at the expense of Dundee United.

Celtic agreed an undisclosed fee with Cardiff for the 23-year-old, who spent 18 months on loan at Tannadice.

Flood hit out at Celtic over the “stupid” transfer speculation immediately after Wednesday’s semi-final at Hampden but his “dream” move soon materialised. The Irishman, who began his career at Man City, revealed his pride over signing for the Hoops.

“It really is a tremendous honour to sign for a club of Celtic’s stature,” Flood told www.celticfc.net. “This is an exciting challenge and one which I am really looking forward to.”

SHAY GIVEN has snubbed a massive new £15.5m deal at Newcastle to join Manchester City.

Toon’s unsettled keeper is expected to complete his drawn-out £10m switch today after boss Joe Kinnear finally admitted defeat in his desperate bid to hang onto the Ireland star.

But that was only after Given turned down what Kinnear claims was a massive new six-year contract — worth around £50,000-a-week — which would have kept him at St James’ Park until the age of 39.

Kinnear has fought tooth and nail to keep the in-demand 32-year-old, but he has now reluctantly given the stopper the green light to talk terms with big-spending City.

Kinnear claimed earlier that Newcastle had yet to accept a bid, but the clubs were last night on the verge of thrashing out a fee which rises to eight figures linked to appearances.

Kinnear admitted: “I’ve sat down and talked to Shay at length and we offered him a new six-year contract but he turned it down.

“He made it clear he wants a change, a new challenge. I kept saying no to him but in the end he came in and handed in a written transfer request so we’ve given him permission to talk to City.”

City are finally set to get their man after doubling their initial £5m offer — dismissed by Kinnear as ‘derisory’.

He added: “Shay’s been a model pro and a great keeper for us and we’ve fought hard to persuade him to stay.

“He knows I’m desperate to keep him but it’s hard when you have a player who’s had his head turned. We couldn’t live with City financially.”

WEST BROM’S Ireland keeper Dean Kiely has signed a new 12-month contract that will keep him with the Baggies until the summer of 2010. Kiely’s whose current contract expires this summer.

The veteran was a key member of the Albion side that gained promotion from the Championship last season. But he has had to be content with being second choice since Scott Carson arrived from Liverpool.

Baggies boss Tony Mowbray has been impressed with the commitment and professionalism shown by Kiely despite his lack of first-team football during the current campaign.

He has worked closely with Carson and is one of the few Albion players with Premier League experience, along with defender Paul Robinson and captain Jonathan Greening.