Shane Long has revealed that he very nearly signed for Celtic a couple of times during his career and that if it were not for an injury at one point, he would have been playing in the Hoops…
The ex-Republic of Ireland star was linked with the club on a few occasions but it never came to fruition and now Long has given the inside track on what actually happened…
The man who played for various English sides throughout the years would have been a welcome addition at Paradise, as his non-stop running and commitment to the cause on the field of play would be a vital component of any team.
Counting Southampton, Reading and West Bromwich Albion amongst his employers in a long footballing life, the Irishman forged a decent career down south for several years playing at a high level too.
Throughout those years though, Long sometimes struggled for consistent minutes and recognition and was used predominantly as an impact substitute at one time. That didn’t sit well with the forward though who wanted minutes on the park and Celtic had been hot on his trail at that point, with an enticing proposition to bring him up the road to Celtic Park.
However, before that particular time, Long had the opportunity to sign for the club when he was still at Reading. The man with 88 caps to his name for Ireland told the story to Boyle Sports.
“The first time I was at Reading I ended up leaving to play for West Brom under Roy Hodgson, but Celtic were in for me too. I was very close to going to Celtic. There was also a transfer window when I was at Southampton when I wasn’t really playing in which I felt I needed to leave to play football — Celtic were in for me then too.”
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“Adam Idah has done okay at Celtic, he’s got 24 goals in 66 appearances,” Shane Long
The man who played for Cork City back home too also revealed that if it werent for an injury, he could have been a Celtic player.
“It was very close to happening, but there was an injury and I broke back into the team,” he added.
“The move didn’t happen in the end and a good friend of mine is now one of the owners and he always asks me why it didn’t happen. Obviously being Irish and having that opportunity was really appealing to me but sadly it never happened.”
He looks like the one that got away…what might have been Shane, we’ll never know.
Paul Gillespie
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