Journalist Ryan McGinlay has reacted online after hearing Patrick Twumasi admit his regret over snubbing a move to Celtic back in 2017.
In a recent interview with Israeli outlet ONE (via Daily Record), the 27-year-old winger opened up about how close he was to signing for the Bhoys having impressed former manager Brendan Rodgers while playing for Astana in Kazakhstan.
He ended up signing for Alaves in Spain instead, and now plays in Israel with Maccabi Netanya, but has admitted that he should have signed for the Hoops instead.
He 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.”
In reaction to this latest update on the long-term saga, McGinlay spoke about his ‘heartbreak’ over how the move fell through.
On Twitter, he said: “Too early for this heartbreak. I was so desperate for us to sign Twumasi back in 2017.”
TIF Thoughts on Patrick Twumasi and Celtic…
After moving to La Liga with Alaves, he was loaned out to Turkish outfit Gaziantep FK and then made the move to Germany with Hannover 96 before ending up at his current club.
Having opted for Spain over Scotland, it’s safe to say that move did not work out at all for Twumasi, as he ended up making just 13 appearances for the club and failed to provide any goal contributions.
Would Patrick Twumasi have been a good signing for Celtic?
Yes
No
There’s no way of knowing how things would have gone for him in Scotland but it’s hard to imagine them going much worse than that. Even so, McGinlay will perhaps be glad that his side ultimately missed out on the flop, even if he was desperate for Rodgers to sign him at the time.
In other news: Journalist left buzzing as ‘great news’ now emerges ‘ahead of the Glasgow Derby’ for Celtic