Former Scotland internationalist Steven Fletcher has opened up on his several links to a move to Celtic over the years.
The 35-year-old striker has spent most of his career south of the border with the likes of Wolves and Sunderland after coming through the Hibernian academy.
However, Fletcher completed his return to Scotland for the first time in 13 years earlier this week, signing for Dundee United.
The former Sheffield Wednesday man may have only completed his move back to his home country this week but, there were plenty of other occasions in which he was linked with the Hoops.
During both his time at Hibs and in the English leagues, rumours arose suggesting that Fletcher could become a Celtic player.
Of course, that move never materialised at any stage over the years.
Speaking in an interview after signing a two-year deal at Tannadice, the Scottish frontman opened up on his links to Parkhead and revealed when he came closest to signing in 2020.
He said [The Scotsman]: “Earlier on in my career, when I was linked with Celtic, I didn’t have much to do with it.
“At that age you just leave it to agents and all that, only finding things out when they’re pretty much done. So I don’t know how close it came in the early ones, but before I signed for Stoke was the closest it came.
“It didn’t happen in the end, and I’ll tell that story one day! But I was linked with Celtic a lot over the years – so much I think the Celtic fans were sick of hearing about it.”
With the veteran striker coming towards the end of his playing days, it is fair to say that we may have seen the last of his links to Celtic.
Instead, Fletcher will now once again be going up against the Hoops in the Scottish Premiership next season and is likely to provide a test for the Celtic backline.
It should be interesting to see how the experienced forward fares on his return to Scotland, and he could prove to be a great pick-up by new United boss Jack Ross.
Now that we know the truth about his links to Celtic, the topic of Fletcher to Parkhead can finally be put to bed.
In other news, Celtic squad well drilled on how to handle media questions about rivals.
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