JAMES MCCLEAN has spoken about the time he thought he was finally getting his coveted move to Celtic.
The Irishman who had the pleasure of playing in front of a packed Celtic Park last weekend which stirred a fire inside the player which has been burning for quite some time.
When asked about his desire to play for Celtic, James was straight to the point.
“Look, if it was up to me I’d have been a Celtic player a long time ago.” The Republic of Ireland star admitted.
“When I was leaving Sunderland, you get the rumour pages and I saw one saying Celtic had a bid accepted for me and I remember being buzzing. At the time it was under Paolo Di Canio and it was in my head that I was leaving anyway. I thought this is it! But absolutely nothing came of it.
“They signed Derk Boerrigter instead. For one reason or another over the last few years it hasn’t happened – but it hasn’t been for the want of trying.”
Derk Boerrigter was signed by Neil Lennon from Ajax and turned out to be a huge waste of money.
The Dutchman was our injured most of his time at Celtic Park and was officially paid off to leave the club before his contract ended. He later retired after not finding a new club.
Some Celtic fans would love to see James McClean in a Celtic jersey because his clear passion for Celtic but many feel the Irishman wouldn’t improve the current squad.
