Celtic have been blessed to have some incredible players don their colours in recent years.
In Brendan Rodgers’ first spell, and now upon his return, he has played a huge part in many players wowing the Celtic crowd with their magic.
From Moussa Dembele utterly dominating Scotland with his goalscoring prowess to Matt O’Riley weaving his Celtic magic, it has been a joy to watch for all.
Some of these players were high-profile signings that lived up to expectations, or in O’Riley’s case, an unknown player plucked from England’s third tier that turned into a diamond.
O’Riley joined from MK Dons when Ange Postecoglou was in charge, but it seems as though there was another gem the club could have signed from League One before the Danish star came to promise.
Ahead of Celtic’s Champions League clash against Atalanta, Rodgers dropped the name of a player he is very familiar with and someone his side should be wary of.
Brendan Rodgers wanted to sign Ademola Lookman at Celtic
Ademola Lookman is now a well-known name across Europe for his heroics for Atalanta, including helping them win the Europa League by scoring a hat-trick in the final against Bayer Leverkusen.
It has resulted in Lookman being nominated for the 2024 Ballon d’Or, alongside the likes of Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr and Manchester City’s Rodri.
But before he was known to the footballing world, Rodgers shared that he wanted to bring the then-teenager to Parkhead, as he told his pre-match press conference.
This was Rodgers’ first spell as manager and Lookman was on the books of Charlton.
“Absolutely brilliant young player,” said Rodgers. “Ademola was one we tracked back in my first time at Celtic.
“Everyone knows the story. I met him in a hotel in London and we were looking to convince him to come – From that moment, we stayed in contact really. When I was at Leicester, we wanted to bring in another winger and enquired about his availability when he was at Red Bull. He came in and he was absolutely brilliant for me in that season he was there. He scored some outstanding goals.
“But he is an absolute top professional, so proud of him and the career he has had because he is a young guy out of London. He wasn’t scared to travel. You think going to Germany, at the time. Come up to the north-west of England to Everton. When he came to Leicester, you could see everything that he was. Leads his life in the right way. Everything is geared towards being the best that he could. Watching him in that Europa League final and the goals he scored. Not by accident. He practised that every day of his life when he could. He is so balanced. Can shoot off his right foot, the same as his left foot. A brilliant player.”
Why Celtic didn’t sign Lookman?
There is no doubt that if Celtic signed Lookman, he would have thrived, won trophies for fun and then be sold for a huge transfer fee.
But why couldn’t the Bhoys manage to sign the player, especially when he wanted to join them, as Rodgers has revealed.
It won’t surprise the Celtic faithful, but as per, they were handcuffed from a financial perspective.
On how close Celtic were to signing Lookman: “Close that he was really excited by the project of Celtic,” shared Rodgers. “He was at Charlton, at the time. He always wanted to join a big club and feel those pressures. Everything why a player would want to come to Celtic.
“Charlton were possibly wanting to get as much as they could for him. From a person perspective, it was a move that suited him and suited his representatives. He was clear on that.
“But, obviously, it was a financial sum, at the end. I think he went for maybe £11 million to Everton. Financially, it was a challenge on the fee. Wages, and everything else, the club could do and the player was keen.”
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