Former Celtic favourite reveals failed return bid as admits Parkhead dream may be over

Republic of Ireland international Aiden McGeady came through the ranks at Celtic. Picture: SNS

The Irish international, who came through the ranks at Celtic Park, left the club in 2010 to join Spartak Moscow.

A few years later he found himself out of the team at Everton when former team-mate John Kennedy called him with a proposal of returning to his boyhood heroes.

However, McGeady didn’t feel the move was right for him at the time. The 35-year-old, now with Sunderland in England’s League One, admits his dream of retiring a Celtic player is now probably dead.

He told the Press Box podcast: "There was a possibility for me to rejoin Celtic actually. It was when I was at Everton where I was in and out of the team and Ronny Deila was the manager.

“John Kennedy actually phoned me and asked if I fancied going back, I can’t remember if it was on loan or permanent.

"But I had only been an Everton less than a year and had it in the back of my head that I didn’t want to go back then as I thought I would play for Everton at some point.

“After that, the opportunity never appeared again. Deila got sacked, Brendan Rodgers came in and for whatever reason he wanted to go down a different route.

“I had it in my head when I was younger that I wanted to come back to Celtic one day and finishing my career there would’ve been the ideal scenario.

“But it just didn’t happen and it won’t now as it’s not happened yet I don’t think."

Message from the editor

Get a year of unlimited access to all The Scotsman's sport coverage without the need for a full subscription. Expert analysis of the biggest games, exclusive interviews, live blogs, transfer news and 70 per cent fewer ads on Scotsman.com - all for less than £1 a week. Subscribe to us today