Republic of Ireland striker Shane Long has revealed just how close he came to pulling on the famous green and white hoops of Celtic – not once, but twice during his career.
And to this day, one of the owners at Celtic – though not specified who – still reminds him of the missed opportunity.
The 37-year-old, who enjoyed a lengthy spell in the English Premier League with clubs like Reading, West Brom, Hull and Southampton, admitted there were two serious approaches from Parkhead that ultimately fell through.
The Irishman revealed that he could’ve signed for the Hoops while at Reading and there was another chance to join Celtic during his time at Southampton, at a point when he was struggling for game time and looking for a fresh start.
Speaking about the missed opportunity, Long said: “The first time I was at Reading I ended up leaving to play for West Brom under Roy Hodgson, but Celtic were in for me too.
“I was very close to going to Celtic, there was also a transfer window when I was at Southampton when I wasn’t really playing in which I felt I needed to leave to play football, Celtic were in for me then too.
“It was very close to happening but there was an injury and I broke back into the team. The move didn’t happen in the end and a good friend of mine is now one of the owners and he always asks me why it didn’t happen.
“Obviously being Irish and having that opportunity was really appealing to me but sadly it never happened,” he told BoyleSports who offer the latest Irish Premier Division Odds & Betting
Long had a 14-year long international career, Long pulled on the Irish jersey 88 times, netting 17 times.
It’s a story of what could’ve been. He was a Premier League quality striker, and could’ve bagged the goals for Celtic. But it never happened in the end.
Earlier, the former striker was hyping up Damien Duff, saying that he has all the tools to be a future Celtic manager.
