How Man Utd legend's proposed Celtic transfer collapsed as he lifts lid on behind the scenes talks with iconic boss
WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN
WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN How Man Utd legend's proposed Celtic transfer collapsed as he lifts lid on behind the scenes talks with iconic boss
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THE LINKS between Celtic and Manchester United go way back.
Paddy Crerand in the sixties. Lou Macari in the seventies. Brian McClair in the eighties.
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Manchester United's Ronny Johnsen, Teddy Sheringham, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Dwight Yorke and Denis Irwin celebrate with the European Cup
Credit: Alamy
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Henrik Larsson left Celtic in 2004 to join Barcelona and the club needed a replacement
Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd
In the noughties we saw Roy Keane and Lee Miller exchanged places but there could have been another person on the list of players to have featured for both clubs.
And that man was Dwight Yorke.
The Trinidad and Tobago striker was offered a contract by Celtic in 2004 but the move never materialised.
Yorke, now 53, has opened up on how the proposed switch came about.
The striker was at Blackburn Rovers at the time but wasn't enjoying his football.
He had left Old Trafford for Ewood Park in 2002 but two years later was looking for a way out of Lancashire.
With Manchester United he was a cult hero, having racked up the goals to help fire the Red Devils to three Premier League titles - not to mention being part of the famous 1999 Treble-winning squad under Sir Alex Ferguson.
In the summer of 2004, the Hoops approached him with an offer to move to Scotland.
He was viewed as a replacement for the legendary Henrik Larsson, who had departed at the end of the previous season.
Yorke considered it but then Birmingham City came calling.
Fresh drone footage goes behind the scenes at Celtic's delayed new training complex
He decided to opt for a move to the West Midlands instead of Glasgow as it meant he could keep playing in the Premier League.
Celtic wanted to take Yorke on loan for the season and after being rebuffed, they moved for Henri Camara instead (then at Wolves).
Yorke has now revealed he travelled to meet iconic boss Martin O'Neill and why in the end he chose to stay in England.
When asked how close he came to joining Celtic, Yorke told Instant Casino: "Very close, I was at Blackburn and I went up to Scotland to speak to Martin O'Neill, the deal was on the table.
"I had played in the Premier League all my life but had a really terrible spell at Blackburn when my sister passed away. I wasn't in a good place so I felt like I needed to take a break from English football.
"Then at the last minute Birmingham City came in for me after getting promotion, I was slightly reluctant because of my affiliation with Aston Villa before I went to United so it's not a decision to be taken lightly.
"But it gave me a chance to stay in the Premier League and at the very highest level. That's why the move to Celtic didn't happen.
"I'd only played in the Premier League since it started in 92 so I knew what the league was all about.
WI admire Celtic and Scottish football, but I was looking for a way out and then Birmingham came in and Steve Bruce kind of gave me that opportunity to stay in the Premier League."
The man O'Neill turned to, Camara, scored eight goals in 18 league appearances for the Hoops (12 starts) but never truly set the league alight and in the January transfer window he was allowed to terminate his loan at Parkhead and join Southampton.
Celtic would end up finishing runners-up in the Premiership to Rangers, who won the title on the last day in a miracle now known as Helicopter Sunday.
Yorke would play for a year at Birmingham before a spell with Sydney FC in Australia and then hung up his boots after three seasons with Sunderland.
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