Celtic told the ‘best player I have ever seen’ was once ‘desperate’ to join the club

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Celtic have been blessed to have some iconic players don their colours over the years.

From the King Henrik Larsson to the soon-to-be departed Kyogo Furuhashi. Celtic fans have watched them wow time and time again.

So, from the club’s perspective, if they miss out on a player that is either, already a top player or has the potential to do so, they can move on to the next one.

But, for that player himself, to miss out on the opportunity to sign for a club like Celtic – Scotland’s greatest – is something that will rot away and hurt you forever.

And you can bet your bottom dollar that, over the years, there have been plenty of them, as Kyle Vassell shared the story of playing with Lee Tomlin and his failed move to Parkhead.

Kyle Vassell says Lee Tomlin ‘the best I have ever seen’ after failed Celtic move

Rewind back to 2013 and a certain Teemu Pukki came on to try and fill the void left by Gary Hooper. The Finland star would struggle in green and white colours.

But Pukki wasn’t the only player Celtic wanted to sign, at the time, because Tomlin, then 24 and playing for Peterborough United, was also on the radar and a move didn’t materialise.

Vassell shared that Tomlin wasn’t just ‘desperate’ to secure a move to Celtic, but he ended up being ‘the best player I have ever seen’, as he told Open Goal.

“He was the best I have ever seen play football,” said Vassell. “Oh mate (he was a joke).

“He got all these players moves (Peterborough have been renowned for selling strikers for big money, such as Dwight Gayle).

On Lee Tomlin wanting to go to Celtic: “He was desperate to go. He played football like he was in the park. He gave the ball away, he couldn’t care less. Couldn’t care less if he gave the ball away. And then, he would just do something crazy. But everyone didn’t care either. If you gave the ball away, he didn’t care. Some of the boys, you get on to and react, or win it back. Didn’t care. Just give him the ball again because he would do something to win a game, every game.”

What Tomlin did when his Celtic move failed

Ironically, at the time, the Peterborough manager was Darren Ferguson, who has since returned to the club and is in charge of them now.

He openly stated that Celtic had put in bids for Tomlin on the opening day of Posh’s season, but it was turned down, as posted by BBC Sport in 2013.

“I can confirm that Celtic have made a bid on the day of a game – three times,” shared Ferguson in 2013. “In fact, they made one bid during the game. It completely unsettled my player, but he’s going nowhere.”

Given the lure and size of Celtic coming knocking for you Tomlin, who would go on to play for clubs like Middlesbrough, Nottingham Forest and Cardiff City, but never played at the top level and, at 36, is now without a club.

That’s probably why Tomlin smashed up the manager’s office when he was denied that chance, as posted by Wales Online.