Lennon - Ki sale necessary

Celtic boss Neil Lennon admits selling Ki Sung-yueng to Swansea will help to ease the club's debt, with the deal beneficial to all concerned.

Bhoys have to move players on to help manage to debt

Celtic boss Neil Lennon admits selling Ki Sung-yueng to Swansea will help to ease the club's debt, with the deal beneficial to all concerned. Swans chairman Huw Jenkins has confirmed that the Welsh club have agreed a fee with Celtic for the South Korea midfielder. Reports suggest the transfer will bring between £5-6million into the Parkhead coffers, money much needed as the club wrestle a £7million debt. Lennon admits he is unlikely to see any of the funds generated by the sale, with the Bhoys forced to accept that the odd departure is necessary to help keep the club afloat. He said: "It will help fund the debt, we have to get the debt down a little bit so that will help towards that.

Discussions

"We will see where we go after these two games and see what money we have to spend, if (any) at all. "I might not (get the Ki money) I might get some of it, I don't know. "One, I don't know what the fee will be and two, I don't know how much we will use to service the debt. "We are in advanced discussions with a club at the minute and we are hoping that the deal will go through. "I am not at liberty to say (if its Swansea) but there may be interest from other clubs as well. "He is not here, we have given him a bit of extra time because he has a lot to think about."

Strategy

The Northern Irishman also believes that the sale of Ki represents 'good business' for a player who cost Celtic £2million when he joined from FC Seoul three years ago. Lennon added: "He has only 15 months left in his contract and we feel it is a good offer and good business on our side. "It is unfortunate to lose a quality player but that has been our strategy at the club for the last two or three years, cultivate these players and eventually move them on if they want to go. "We haven't got a set fee for any players but we feel the offer is one that is good for us."