“There was a genuine interest from from himself and his agent at the time” – Martin O’Neill reveals Celtic had the chance to sign incredible Brazilian Barcelona legend

Statue at Celtic Park

There are players that Celtic have missed out on that have went on to become legends in the game.

Karim Benzema being one of them.

But what about those that had already earned their status as legends and still wanted to come to the club?

Not too many of those around are there and usually when they are, it’s at the tail end of their careers.

And Martin O’Neill revealed how Celtic had the opportunity to sign a Brazilian World Cup and Champions League legend.

Speaking on The Record Celtic podcast, O’Neill revealed, “I’ve been asked that question before and I genuinely don’t think that I ever went in and for some player that I knew that was an impossibility to get there.

You know either he be too costly or somebody might not want to leave Spain and come to come to Ayrshire.

There was talk one time talk about Rivaldo, the Brazilian player Rivaldo and there was a genuine interest from from himself and his agent at the time.

But I always felt even though that the conversation went more than once we went into I’m not so sure that was ever really really going to work.”

As O’Neill revealed later in the show, Rivaldo was past his best at the time but could you imagine even having that name on the team sheet?

The interest and commercial benefits to the club would have been incredible.

Leave a Reply

Discover more from Born Celtic

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading