Patrick Twumasi has spoken out for the first time about turning down Celtic back in 2017 when Brendan Rodger’s wanted to bring him to Glasgow.
Celtic played Astana home and away in the Champions League qualifiers and the winger caught Brendan’s eye at the time – so much so – Celtic tried to land the player and Brendan Rodgers put in a personal phone call to make the deal happen.
However, Patrick has told how he was advised to move to Spain for the exposure with Alaves rather than take up the offer Brendan and Celtic put in front of him.
As quoted by Record Sport, Patrick said: “I played twice against Celtic for Astana in the Champions League. The Celtic manager, Brendan Rodgers, called me up personally which was a great honour.
“He told me, ‘Patrick, come to Celtic and you will have a great career. I love the way you play and you would be a great success at the club.’
“But my family and agent recommended I go to Spain instead. They said that even though Alaves were a far smaller club, the exposure given to Spanish football was much more than in Scotland.
“Sometimes football is business.
“Looking back, I completely regret not taking up the offer from Celtic. I sent coach Rodgers a message to apologise and I admitted to him I made the wrong decision.
“He told me he respected me and if I wanted to come to Celtic again in the future, we could arrange it. But it never happened.”
It’s a reminder of the constraints we have as a club in bringing players in. There’s plenty more players out there whole will have turned down the opportunity to play for Celtic for similar reasons and many who regret it.
There will also be players who have become icons at our club or just generally good players who had their reservations about moving to the Scottish league only for them to find out it was the best time of their career when all was said and done.
Patrick’s comments should serve as a warning to other players that playing for Celtic is a major deal and if you’re offered the chance to pull on the Hoops, serious thought must go into the decision.
Patrick hasn’t really hit the heights elsewhere and does regret not taking up Brendan Rodgers’ offer. Patrick currently plays for Israeli side Maccabi Netanya.
