Celtic had a few colourful personalities in the squad under Gordon Strachan.
From Tommy Gravesen to Neil Lennon to Artur Boruc, it wasn’t often a quiet dressing room.
In fairness, it wasn’t often an unsuccessful one either. Celtic won three of four league titles under Strachan, and it should’ve been four given that they were seven points clear after the New Year derby in 2008-09.
Shunsuke Nakamura and Scott Brown were two of the excellent signings the Hoops made in that period, but one EFL cult hero has now revealed that he was close to joining the Hoops under Strachan.
If he did, things could’ve worked out very differently.
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EFL cult hero on almost joining Celtic
Strachan signed some great strikers at Celtic, including Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and Scott McDonald.
But imagine he signed Shefki Kuqi?
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The move that never happened has been discussed in the past by the Finnish striker, known best for his spell at Ipswich Town.
In 2006, he moved to Simon Jordan-owned Crystal Palace, but things could have been different that summer.
In an interview with World Football Index, Kuqi discussed the near miss, saying: “I think it was close.
“I was told about the situation, and there was also interest from Everton. Blackburn reached a point where I had to make a decision.
“Crystal Palace came in as well, and they wanted to get back to the Premier League.
“If everything had fallen into place, I would have gone to Celtic. But you never really know how close a deal is.
“I have travelled up and down the country many times, thinking something was close. I learned that until a deal is done, it is never close.”
Celtic signed Big Jan instead, and Kuqi eventually got his move to Scotland in 2012, when he joined Hibernian.
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Celtic’s bizarre striker signings
When it comes to strikers, Celtic have had some fairly wild ones through the years.
Think of Carlton Cole, who signed after a successful trial under Ronny Deila. He wasn’t very prolific despite fans singing his name most weeks, and has often reflected negatively on his time in Glasgow.
The same manager also signed Colin Kazim-Richards from Feyenoord. The Turkish international played for 18 clubs in his career.
From Mohamed Bangura to Albian Ajeti to Amido Balde, the list goes on.
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