Emile Heskey Makes Surprising Celtic Claim

By
Josh McCafferty
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Former England internationalist Emile Heskey has revealed that throughout his career, there were numerous opportunities for him to sign for Celtic. They happened to be when Martin O’Neill was in charge of the club.

Having earned 62 England caps throughout his career, Heskey was a hugely respected player. He bagged 154 goals across 737 appearances for several clubs including Liverpool, Wigan, Bolton, Birmingham City, Leicester, Aston Villa, and Newcastle Jets.

Emile Heskey
Soccer Football – Women’s Super League – Leicester City v Manchester City – King Power Stadium, Leicester, Britain – February 4, 2023 Leicester City coach Emile Heskey during the warm up before the match Action Images via Reuters/Craig Brough

Now 45, Heskey admitted he was almost lured to Parkhead. He said (FourFourTwo via Football Scotland): “He tried to lure me to Celtic a couple of times, but I didn’t fancy it up there. Villa are a massive club and, being from the Midlands, I understood the scale of it.”

Seeing Heskey in green and white would have been an intriguing prospect. O’Neill had several top strikers when he was Parkhead gaffer, but the old England number nine never ended up being added to the list.