It seems a long time ago but there was once a time when Notts County could call upon both Callum McGregor and Jack Grealish for their side back when they were making their way up in the game.
The pair spent time together at the English club with McGregor on-loan the last time Neil Lennon was the manager of Celtic.
Grealish was asked about Callum in a recent interview and of course, journalists from north of the border are going to ask him why he isn’t going south of the border. The Aston Villa ace believes there’s no doubt Callum could cut it at Premier League level but the pull of Celtic and European football is certainly up there for the midfielder.
“If he ever did come to the Premier League, 100 per cent he’d be a success,” he told the Daily Record.
“I don’t know if it will happen because Celtic has a massive place in his heart in the way Aston Villa is in mine. It would be hard to leave our clubs.
“He is playing Champions League or Europa League every season, he plays in the Scotland team every single time, so I can’t see why he’d want to leave.
“But the Premier League is regarded by most as the best league in the world, so you never know. But if he comes here, he will be a success.
“They (McGregor and John McGinn ) are both brilliant players and Scotland are lucky to have them both playing in their midfield.
“But more than that, they are both brilliant lads.
“Callum and I got on like a house on fire, but we didn’t spend a lot of time together away from the training ground.
“But that was nothing personal against each other!
“He had come down from Scotland and Mark Fotheringham is Scottish and was there, so they hung about together.”
Grealish has a market value of around £22.5m according to Transfermarkt and you have to believe after signing a five-year deal with Celtic, McGregor would be in the same category.
The media were clearly fishing for a different answer when it came to the player talking about Callum staying in Scotland. Grealish was respectful and made fantastic points.
