Victor Wanyama will not sign for Southampton despite Celtic accepting £12m bid, says agent
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Victor Wanyama will not be moving from Celtic to Southampton, according to the players' agent.
Combative Kenyan midfielder Wanyama, 21, looks set to leave the Scottish Premier League champions after Celtic accepted a fee from Southampton for the 21-year-old, believed to be in excess of £12million.
However, Wanyama's representative Ivan Modia maintains there are no longer any talks with Southampton, and the player, who scored in the Bhoy's shock Champions League win over Barcelona last season, is likely to look elsewhere.
Barclays Premier League newcomers Cardiff are said to be monitoring Wanyama's situation, while Arsenal have also been linked in the past.
"We are not in talks with Southampton and have not been since their final offer of terms, which was more than two weeks ago," Modia told Sky Sports.
"The news of the fee being agreed may just be coming out now, but we see little sense in a fee being agreed if there is no reasonable prospect of the player's terms being met.
"To suggest we are talking with Southampton is totally false, their offer was way below Victor's expectations. There is no chance of him signing the deal on offer and, in fact, both Celtic and Southampton were informed of this some time ago.
"The player will not be forced into a corner to accept the Southampton deal, just because it is good for Celtic. Remember, he has been with the club for two years now - without a pay rise - and has given them wonderful service ever since he arrived.
"Added to this is the fact that by Celtic refusing him permission to join Queens Park Rangers last summer, Victor lost more than £1million in potential salary earnings - yet he just kept his mouth shut and continued to be a model professional. Many other players may not have adopted this attitude, in the circumstances."
Wanyama, signed by Celtic from Belgian side Beerschot in 2011, will now take some time to decide on his future for next season.
"We know there is interest from elsewhere and Victor is obviously open to those prospects - he is currently back in Kenya and hopes that Celtic will adopt a more reasonable approach and take into account the service that he has given the club so far and the rest of these issues," the player's agent added.
"Nobody at Celtic can question his attitude and he is hopeful he can leave on good terms with the club.
"He loves the club and its fans, he's played his heart out for the jersey, but he didn't quite expect that it may end like this."
PA
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