McAvennie claims that David Moyes didn't know who Celtic striker Albian Ajeti was

By Euan Davidson

December 10, 2020

Former Celtic and West Ham United striker Frank McAvennie has claimed that Albian Ajeti was the invisible man at his former club.

Speaking to The Celtic Huddle podcast, McAvennie lifted the lid on his conversations with West Ham United boss David Moyes. According to Macca, the former Celtic defender and Manchester United manager hadn’t a clue about the Bhoys’ £5m man.

McAvennie said (via The Celtic Huddle):

“I’ve spoken about Ajeti before. I asked David Moyes about him, the manager at West Ham, and he didn’t know who he was.

“That’s not a good start for the boy. He never got a game.

“You look at the boy Haller that they brought in, you look and he’s not been doing anything. So you wonder why he’s not been getting a game at West Ham, when you look back now.”

Celtic striker Albian Ajeti / (Photo by Steve Welsh/Pool via Getty Images)

So who did know about Ajeti?

Is Frank McAvennie the most reliable news source in the world? No. Of course not.

However, he’s well-connected at both of his former clubs and is an established figure in UK football media. His comments carry some weight.

Let’s just say for the sake of argument that he’s right: uh oh.

It doesn’t inspire any confidence knowing that Albian Ajeti’s former manager had no clue who he was selling to Celtic. Especially when you’ve got to assume that the relationship between Moyes and the Bhoys is a friendly one.

Moyes signed former Celtic star Aiden McGeady while he was the manager of Everton (BBC). He has also spoken openly about his association to our club (Open Goal/YouTube).

The Swiss striker has scored 5 goals in 10 Premiership games for Celtic (Transfermarkt), but is firmly behind Odsonne Edouard in the striker hierarchy at Parkhead.

Ajeti has hit double-figures during three league seasons in his career so far (Transfermarkt), which indicates that he can be prolific when given ample opportunity. Signing for a Premier League side at a cost of £8m (BBC) is hardly the behaviour of an anonymous player, either.

Perhaps he’ll add to his account in Celtic colours yet. However, if David Moyes couldn’t recognise you in a line-up, it’s a worry. Celtic have had mixed fortunes buying squad players from Premier League teams. Many would argue it’s not the kind of business that befits a club of the Bhoys’ stature.

We hope Frank McAvennie is exaggerating here.