Report: Former Celtic winger wants Scottish football return after 12 years away

By David Walton

June 15, 2022

Former Celtic winger Aiden McGeady would be keen on a return to Scottish football with Hibs, according to the Edinburgh Evening News.

The Easter Road club’s initial interest in Aiden was reported back in May when the Scottish Sun claimed that new boss Lee Johnson was a big fan of the former Republic of Ireland international.

McGeady’s Sunderland contract expired this summer after bagging promotion to the English Championship. However, he confirmed that despite that, he still has plans to keep playing.

And now the Edinburgh Evening News report that the player is ready for a move back up to Scotland, with former Hibs boss Shaun Maloney even eyeing up the possibility before his dismissal.

McGeady hasn’t been seen in the Scottish game since he left Celtic for Spartak Moscow back in 2010. Since then, he’s featured for Everton, Sheffield Wednesday, Preston North End, Sunderland, and Charlton respectively.

The winger stated last month in an interview with the BBC that he would’ve “loved” to return to Parkhead at some stage in his career. However, he rejected the opportunity to come back during the Ronny Deila days.

Aiden McGeady ready for Scottish football return?

McGeady still has the quality to make an impact up here – even in the Premiership. Given he thrived under Johnson at Sunderland, you can see the obvious connection/relationship there.

Even last season he still managed to put in some figures despite barely getting a run in the team down in Wearside. McGeady managed 3 goals and 4 assists in only 14 League One appearances [Transfermarkt]. Not to mention he was the captain at the beginning of the campaign.

At 36 years of age, you can see why a return to Scotland suddenly looks attractive to him. It’s not as if he would be fighting down the bottom of the league either. If he makes the move to Edinburgh, there will be big expectation on him there.

Aiden, of course, was a hero at Celtic after coming through the academy and becoming a key player for the club. He left Parkhead with 7 trophy wins to his name and sampled both domestic and European success too.

It’s easy to forget just how big his transfer to Spartak was at the time. The £9.5m gained from the deal was a club record sale at that stage [Daily Record]. Of course, that’s since been well trumped after Kieran Tierney’s £25m Arsenal move in 2019 [BBC].

Hopefully, we do indeed get to see him back up the road. He still has plenty to give and would likely make a big impact here should he decide it’s the right move for him.

In other news, Report: Neil Lennon’s Omonia Nicosia dismiss interest in Celtic midfielder