Michael Stewart shares how there was a ‘chance’ he could have signed for Celtic under Neil Lennon

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The Celtic fans have had the privilege to watch some of the best players in football grace the famous green and white hoops.

From Jimmy Johnstone to Paul McStay to Henrik Larsson, there have been a multitude of incredible footballers who have stepped onto the Celtic Park turf.

There are also stories of players who almost signed for the club. The famous Martin O’Neill story where he tried to sign Rivaldo is probably up there with one of the best.

But I never knew about BBC pundit, Michael Stewart, and his brush with having an opportunity to don the Hoops.

Michael Stewart could have played for Neil Lennon

A popular no-nonsense pundit, Stewart has shared how when Neil Lennon was the caretaker boss at Celtic back in 2010 after the sacking of Tony Mowbray, an agent approached him about the possibility of signing for the Bhoys.

Stewart said [Celtic Unrestricted View Podcast], “David Moyes’ brother, Kenny Moyes, was an agent he actually came and met me through in Edinburgh once.

“And it was just around about the time when Lenny [Neil Lennon] was caretaker charge at Celtic and he said, ‘Look if Lenny gets the job, he says, there might be a chance to go to Celtic.’

“So again, it was nothing definitive but that’s how these things start.

“But I was sort of set in my mind where I wanted to just go and do something different.”

At that time Celtic had the likes of Scott Brown, Ki Sung-Yeung and Massimo Donati running the Celtic midfield.

Signed as a professional by Manchester United back in 1998, Stewart had undoubted talent and made eight appearances for a team that had the likes of Roy Keane, David Beckham and Darren Fletcher.

He left United to join Hibs permanently in 2005 and after two years at Easter Road then joined Hearts until 2010 and it was at the end of that spell where the agent made contact.

Stewart decided to join Gençlerbirliği instead where injury blighted the start of his new career and a contract dispute eventually led him to leave the Turkish club after one season.

Stewart now enjoys his time as a BBC pundit but it would have been interesting to see how he would have fared at Celtic and if he could have brought more success to the club.