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.”