Over the years, Celtic have been linked to their fair share of former English Premier League players, and that was no different under ex-manager Brendan Rodgers.
The Northern Irishman brought the likes of Scott Sinclair and Kolo Toure to the club during his time in Glasgow and was always linked with bringing EPL players during a successful spell in the club’s history.
Speaking in an interview with popular Scottish Football show, Open Goal, former Liverpool and Arsenal winger Jermaine Pennant revealed he was once in talks with the Hoops over a possible deal to bring him to Parkhead during Rodgers time as manager.
When asked if he had nearly signed for Celtic, Pennant said: “Yes.
“I can’t remember the year, but it was Brendan Rodgers.
“I think it was when my contract was coming to an end at Stoke, and I was in talks with Celtic.
“But I think that someone else signed, so that deal kind of dropped off.”
He continued, saying: “I love experiencing different things, which is why I went to Spain.
“I thought Celtic would have been perfect for me at that time in my career. To sample the rivalry with Rangers and Scottish football, I thought, was something I could look forward to.
“And it’s not far from home. I didn’t speak to Rodgers, but my agent did.”
During that point in his career, Pennant could be found playing his football in Singapore and the lower leagues of English Football with the likes of Wigan, so it certainly might have been seen as a bit of a strange deal.
We did see in his time here that Rodgers had a knack for getting players back to their best, with Sinclair being his best example of that, so who knows what might have happened.
If there is one thing his sides didn’t lack, it was firepower in wide areas, with Scott Sinclair and James Forrest having some of their best spells at those points. So, it is probably fortunate nothing came of that deal.
Ultimately though, as mentioned, nothing came to fruition, and Pennant went on to have a trial with another former manager, Neil Lennon, during his spell at Hibs before spending the rest of his career down south.
