One of the biggest developments of Celtic’s transfer window so far has been the exit of Scott Sinclair to English Championship side Preston North End.
Announced on Wednesday night, the winger has left Celtic Park on a permanent basis after failing to secure first-team football under Neil Lennon.
It’s the end of an era in many respects, with Sinclair so instrumental to our incredible ‘treble treble’ success over the last few years. In fact, nobody scored more goals for Celtic during that run.
His best form came in his debut 2016/17 season when he scored a magnificent 25 goals in all competitions, also pitching in with 13 assists.
He rapidly became a fan favourite and was clearly also popular with his teammates.
Tierney tribute
One of the more prominent tributes to Sinclair has come from former Celtic left-back Kieran Tierney, who enjoyed magical form on the left flank with the Englishman.
He took to Instagram on Thursday evening to offer his support, posting an Instagram story which said: “Good luck my man. So many memories together down that left.”
As shown by Transfermarkt, Tierney and Sinclair played 117 matches together across three seasons for a total of 8,058 minutes. That’s a massive 671 hours of on-pitch action, the vast majority of which would have been on the same flank.
A massive 224 goals were scored in those matches, with Celtic conceding just 99, demonstrating the combined attacking and defensive efforts of both.
No wonder that Tierney has such fond memories, especially when you factor in nine trophies.
Other stars like Benkovic also show support
Sinclair himself posted some videos on Instagram after his exit, clearly wishing to leave on good terms with supporters, with whom he had a brilliant rapport.
In the comments on those videos, former teammates such as Scott Brown, Mikael Lustig and Filip Benkovic all left tributes.
It was the right time for Sinclair to leave but his contribution to the Hoops over the last few years can’t be understated. He’ll likely always be remembered fondly by supporters and personally, I hope he smashes it at Preston.
He deserves one last big run of excellent form in his career.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
