FIRST JANUARY SIGNING COMPLETED

Last updated : 09 January 2004 By Editor
Miller signed a pre-contract agreement yesterday and will
move to Old Trafford on July 1st. He said afterwards:

"As a young boy I only supported two clubs, Glasgow Celtic
and Manchester United. I am honoured to have played for
Celtic for six years and now I look forward to joining
Manchester United. It's very exciting and is going to be a
challenge to play for one of the biggest clubs in the
world."

United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said: "We recognised the
potential of Liam, he has had a great season at Celtic. He
is very much part of our progressive thinking of developing
a young team over the next few years."

Old Trafford chief executive David Gill added: "I am pleased
to have Liam joining us, it focuses our continued commitment
to bring in young players for the future."

His agent, Finton Drury, has denied that money was a factor
in the move:

“The player left for a combination of reasons and money was
but one aspect. It is a career decision and Manchester
United were the only other club that Liam would have left
Celtic for. In the end it was a choice between one of the
best clubs in Britain and one of the greatest clubs in the
world.”

A Celtic statement said:

“We made an extremely generous offer to Liam Miller, the
biggest salary deal ever put on the table for a young Celtic
player who has come up through the ranks. This offer was
made following detailed consideration of Liam's contribution
to the team to date during his 16 first-team starting
appearances as well as eventual potential.

“It is a salary package which would make him one of the very
best-paid young players in Scottish football history.”

But Drury claims:

“The statements that Celtic are making about the financial
situation are inaccurate and erroneous. But it is inevitable
that when a club loses a player they don't want to lose
suggestions are made that everything was done financially to
keep him. It's the law of the jungle.”