Dan Petrescu appears to have had a change of heart after he confirmed his interest in staying in Romania.
The former CFR Cluj boss was reported by the Daily Mail as being interested in the Celtic job. They stated that he would put his name forward after ending a short stint in Turkey.
Petrescu has won the Romanian title twice with two different clubs. He also led Kuben Krasnodar to the Russian title back in 2010. Interestingly, however, he’s made great strides in Europe with unfancied sides such as Cluj and Unirea Urzicieni.
However, speaking back in his homeland, it appears he has his heart set on staying where he is. As he gets set to go back on the job hunt, Petrescu is eyeing up a famous achievement over in Romania.
As quoted by Romanian outlet Pro Sport, Petrescu said: “I didn’t take a break from matches, it’s impossible to do that. I have no way to feed myself, I have to satisfy my hunger somehow and I want to go back to coaching, but I want to fight at the top, I don’t want to be demoted (to clubs not fighting for titles.
“I would very much like to be the only coach to win the Romanian championship with three different teams – I don’t have these teams with beautiful play, I like the teams that win.”
Dan Petrescu eyeing up Romania achievement; Celtic fans won’t lose any sleep
What’s become clear is that the Euro tactician is hardly the number one choice amongst the Parkhead faithful.
Some will question the magnitude of his achievements given the majority have come in Romania. Some will have alarm bells ringing in their ears given the amount of clubs Petrescu has managed. And some simply won’t like his demeanour as a manager and his tendency to flirt all too often with mind-games.
Even so, this was a name that looked like being interested in the Parkhead role. In fairness, he still might be, but it appears he’s laid his cards out on the table now. A return to the Romanian championship looks most likely.
Petrescu reportedly already has two offers on the table back in his homeland. Both FC Voluntari and Sepsi are set to give him the chance to jump straight back into management when he wishes to do so [DigiSport].
For Celtic, it doesn’t look as though a decision on our manager is going to be made anytime soon. Or at least not until the campaign is over.
It would be surprising to see Petrescu wait that long. Especially given how often he’s front and centre of Romanian media. As things stand, this looks a real outset bet.
In other news, a report has outlined whether Celtic were involved in any wrongdoing regarding the signing of Liam Shaw.
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