Blackburn Rovers manager Tony Mowbray has revealed that agents informed him goalkeeper Balazs Toth is set to be sold, amid reported interest from Celtic. The 27-year-old Hungary international is valued at £4 million and has rejected a new contract at Ewood Park, according to Record Sport.
Celtic's interest and Toth's situation
Celtic are reportedly looking to add Toth to their squad to provide competition for Viljami Sinisalo. The Glasgow club is stepping up transfer activity ahead of their Champions League playoff against LASK next week, having already completed deals for Mika Baur and Haissem Hassan earlier this week.
Toth played the full 90 minutes in Blackburn's Championship opener against Wolves on Friday night, which ended in a 2-2 draw. His contract is set to expire at the end of the season, and he is likely to be sold after turning down a new deal.
Mowbray's comments on the transfer
When asked about Celtic's interest in the goalkeeper, Mowbray told the Lancashire Telegraph: "I don't know is the answer. You probably know how the layers in our football club work, and football coaches, football managers, don't need to know if one of your players is going to get sold."
He added: "I've had agents phoning me up at quarter to eleven last night, telling me that you need a goalie, and I'm going, why do I need a goalie? They said, because your goalie's getting sold. It's a little bit frustrating that I'm getting told at quarter to eleven, the night before a game, that my goalie's getting sold. I laughed it off, but let's wait and see."
Mowbray's advice and perspective
Mowbray conceded that his advice to the club would be to sell the first-choice goalkeeper before the end of the transfer window. He said: "If people aren't going to sign contracts, there's a million footballers out there, you have to cash in. I don't think it's right that you invest in footballers, you give them contracts, and then for whatever reason, they go."
He continued: "That's no criticism of Toth, if he doesn't want to sign a new contract. In my opinion, he's been offered a pretty substantial contract. He doesn't want to sign it, he wants to move on, you have to cash in. I'm not here to criticise the football club, if they get the right deal for him, in his last year, we have to go and get some. There's a million footballers out there; we'll go and find another goalkeeper."
Mowbray also expressed understanding for Toth's potential desire to move on, saying: "Scoring goals, celebrating, loving it with the fans after you win matches, that's what life's about. If the goalie wants to go and do it somewhere else, and win cups and trophies and play in the Champions League, then who am I to tell him he shouldn't do that? Good luck to him."
