Former chairman admits ‘regret’ in double transfer deal with Celtic

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Celtic have often bought some of the best players in the country in a bid to strengthen their domination of Scottish football.

The Hoops support has seen the likes of Scott McDonald, Barry Robson, Paul Hartley and now, Luke McCowan come to Celtic and be successful at the club.

However, it was a double transfer deal that was done almost 10 years ago now with Celtic that still burns one former SPFL club chairman to this day.

And it is one that still holds ‘regret’ for Stephen Thompson as he confesses he regrets selling two former Dundee United stars to the Parkhead club.

Ex-Dundee United chairman’s ‘regret’ at selling Stuart Armstrong and Gary Mackay-steven to Celtic

Thompson told Off The Ball, “We were going into a cup final, but the problem was that we had a hole in the cash flow of £400,000 to £500,000 coming up six weeks later.

“That’s the reason we did it. Do I regret it? It’s probably the one thing I do regret because we had a good chance against Celtic in the final and we didn’t (win it).

“That’s where things changed for me with the fans and it’s never been the same since.

“The players can say what they want publicly but they were being offered eight times the salary – they were going to go.”

Gary Mackay-steven and Stuart Armstrong’s very different Celtic careers

Gary Mackay-Steven and Stuart Armstrong both joined Celtic in 2015 but both had very different careers at the club.

Armstrong was a pivotal player in Brendan Rodgers’ first spell at Celtic helping the Parkhead club hoover up trophy after trophy.

Mackay-steven was more of a bit part player for Celtic and never really hit the heights of what Armstrong did.

So here is how both player’s careers at Celtic Park turned out and the difference is stark:

Stuart Armstrong is currently playing for Vancouver Whitecaps and Mackay-steven is at Kilmarnock.