Indeed, Celtic nearly signed Ivan Toney before the striker became an England international at Brentford.
Meanwhile, Celtic nearly signed Troy Deeney back when he was banging in the goals in the Premier League.
Danny Simpson almost joined Celtic too after winning the Premier League with Leicester City.
Now, another Premier League star has admitted that he nearly signed for Celtic.
Speaking on The Fulham Fix, Alex Iwobi has been discussing his route into professional football, and he says that, at one point, he was meant to go to Celtic rather than signing scholarship terms at Arsenal.
Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images
Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images
Alex Iwobi was supposed to join Celtic
Iwobi spoke about his journey into the professional game.
The midfielder says that he wasn’t offered professional terms at Arsenal at the age of 16, only a scholarship.
That meant that Iwobi was free to explore his options and search for a professional deal.
Iwobi nearly signed for Celtic, while he also had a look at Crystal Palace, but, ultimately, he took up a scholarship deal with Arsenal as he tried to make it in north London.
“But then when you actually have to leave school and it’s full time football, that’s what I thought, okay, it’s getting serious now that I need to buckle up. And at 16, I got told I had the option to leave Arsenal or go to another club or sign a scholar. So I was like, what do I do here?” Iwobi said.
Because I mean, I couldn’t make, I just think of the decisions I made when I was 16 and none of them were sensible. You didn’t have an option to sign for Arsenal, I’m afraid.
“I mean, yeah, everyone has different paths, but I’ve always had a great support system. Like my dad and my mum and my sister have always been around to say that. When I was younger, there’s many times I’ve been told, oh, you’re not good enough, you’re not good enough.”
“And that was just another moment. I was the only one playing for England at the time that didn’t get offered a professional contract where there was like six of them. So I only just had a scholar and they said, oh, if you want to go, you can go.
“So I was meant to go Celtic. I went to see Crystal Palace. I know there was one more team I can’t remember, but I remember going to Crystal Palace and training ground at 16.
“Me and my dad said, no, you’ve been in this position before where they said, you’re not good enough, go prove them wrong again. So I was like, okay, cool, I’m going to sign my scholar.”
Alex Iwobi stats this season
Iwobi ultimately took a gamble when deciding to stay with Arsenal rather than getting a professional deal elsewhere.
However, that gamble paid off as the Nigerian ended up breaking into the Arsenal first-team.
Ultimately, Iwobi didn’t become a star at Arsenal, but he’s carved out a very respectable Premier League career.
Iwobi would leave Arsenal for Everton before making a £22m move to Fulham where he has hit new heights.
Indeed, Iwobi has been in the form of his life at Fulham, and his stats this season show it.
Games Goals Assists
Alex Iwobi stats this season 26 7 3
No doubt about it, Iwobi would have been a star at Celtic if he’d made the move north of the border, but, unfortunately for the Scottish giants, they missed out on this deal.
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