Celtic fans have been used to seeing some of the world’s biggest names in football being linked to or even playing for the club over the decades.
Henrik Larsson, Shunsuke Nakamura and Roy Keane are three such names that have donned the green and white hoops in my lifetime.
Going back further Billy McNeill and any one of the Lisbon Lions were, undoubtedly, some of the best players in the world at that time.
And then we have had the likes of Kenny Dalglish and more grace the Parkhead turf over the seventies and eighties.
Celtic has also had Brazilian playmaker Juninho play for the club for a short period under Martin O’Neill in 2004 and here the legendary former Hoops boss clears up why another Brazilian, Rivaldo, didn’t make the Celtic Park switch during his tenure.
Rivaldo’s agent ‘was in touch’ with Celtic
Rivaldo was one of football’s biggest names at one point and has played for the likes of AC Milan and Barcelona and has won the Champions League and a World Cup.
So when he was linked to Celtic under O’Neill, how close was the move to happening and what made any proposed deal fall through? Here, the former Celtic boss shares.
O’Neill said [The Football Authorities], “There was talk at the time about signing Rivaldo.
“Yes, and I think that Rivaldo’s agent was in touch with us, and there was definitely an interest. And despite the fact that Rivaldo was probably the same age as me at the time, I think there was a bit of a problem with that there.
“It didn’t materialise, but there was certainly more than just an initial contact and it had gone a little bit further than perhaps we thought it would do.
“But I think both parties just pulled out of it at the end of it all because Rivaldo was a fantastic player, but he was coming to the end of his career at the time.”
Rivaldo did admit once that he was made an offer for Celtic but it seems that his recollection of events differs slightly from O’Neill’s.
What O’Neill told Matt Elliott about Celtic contract demands
O’Neill went on further in the podcast to share the real reason why former Leicester City defender, Matt Elliot, didn’t come to Celtic Park.
The former Scotland defender was linked to Celtic during O’Neill’s time at the club and whilst the Irishman was a huge fan of him, it seems Elliott’s contract demands scuppered a potential move up north.
O’Neill continued, “I was speaking to Matty a couple of months ago, and he recounted this as well. Yeah, I wanted to sign him.
“He had done fantastically well for me at Leicester City and I moved up to Celtic and I wanted to sign him.
“Parts of me think that he was using me to get a better contract at Leicester. So, I think these demands come in from him and his agent.
“But I did speak to Matty and I said, ‘Matty, I think you’re a fantastic centre-back, but Zinedine Zidane is not coming to the football club this week, but you’re not getting his money.’
“So he turned down the chance to go to Celtic, which I think he would have enjoyed at the time, but he was terrific for me at Leicester City.
“And I think part of me has always thought, and I even recounted this to him a few months ago, that he was using me to just get a better deal at Leicester City.”
The excitement of signing a player of Rivaldo’s calibre would have been incredible at the time, even if he had advanced in his years.
The Brazilian was a class act and one of the best players in the world and a former Ballon d’Or winner. Rivaldo is certainly a name that would have put bums on seats at Celtic Park and it’s a pity that that was one player who didn’t get the chance to play in Paradise.
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