West Ham United’s Robert Snodgrass has admitted that he tried to sell new Celtic hero Albian Ajeti on the Parkhead “dream”.
Ajeti became an instant hero after scoring on his Premiership debut for the Hoops against Dundee United at Tannadice. The new man, signed for £5million from West Ham (Sky Sports), also played some minutes against KR Reykjavik.
Celtic have a substantial carrot to dangle in front of transfer targets this season. Anyone who signs for the club and helps achieve 10-in-a-row will become an instant fan-favourite.
And Snodgrass, a Celtic fan himself, has stated that he did all he could to push his former team-mate in the direction of Glasgow.
As quoted by the Scottish Sun, Snodgrass said: “I knew that Celtic were interested in him right from the start, along with a few other teams. But I tried to sell the dream to him, as such. I told him about how special the club is and what the fans are like. I spoke to him about the European nights and the Old Firm games.
“With everything that’s at stake this season I explained he could go down in history. I wanted him to hear about the tradition of the club and what he’d be joining. I told him about Glasgow and how one half of the city would probably hate him, but the other half would love him if he did well for them and they’d treat him like a king. That’s the beauty of it.
“He took a while to get things done but I was delighted when I heard he was signing and I was even happier when I saw at the weekend he’d scored his first goal. I just hope it’s the first of many.”
Ajeti still has much to do
As Celtic supporters, we always have a tendancy to go overboard with praise for our players when they get it right. Same goes for criticism when a player has a few bad games.
Ajeti, therefore, has managed a fine start. But that’s all it is. It’s clear the Swiss frontman still isn’t up to speed fitness-wise yet, but there’s a lot of work for him to do in order to nail down a spot in Glasgow.
What he did show on Saturday was a determination and a desire to throw himself into challenges when given the opportunity. He’s a player who clearly isn’t afraid of the rough stuff, and that’s going to important in a league such as the Scottish Premiership.
As for Snodgrass, it’s deal to have such passionate Celtic fans at Premier League clubs. It can, at times, give us a bit of an advantage when it comes to our recruitment. Ajeti is a good example of how this can work for us.
Of course, we’re not naive. It’s going to take a lot more than another footballer’s view for a player to decide where his future lies. But there’s no denying Snodgrass would’ve sold Ajeti the excitement.
The signs so far are positive, but it’s still extremely early days for the Ajeti-Celtic relationship.
In other news, Celtic boss Neil Lennon is set for some key discussions with his players regarding the upcoming internationals.
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