Every membership has endured missed alternatives in the switch market over time and Celtic aren’t any totally different, with there being a plethora of star names whom the Parkhead outfit have missed out upon in the fashionable period.
One lesser-known story of what may have been is that of former United States worldwide Brad Friedel, with the now-retired colossus having seemingly come near becoming a member of the Premiership facet virtually 30 years in the past.
As the story goes, the 82-cap goalkeeper was taken on trial by the Scottish giants in 1993, having endured difficulties in gaining a work permit with a handful of different British golf equipment.
Although there have been suggestions that then-manager Liam Brady was eager to signal the American, the extra standard perception is that the membership merely passed up the opportunity of a deal to signal the promising unknown amount, with the likes of Packie Bonner and Gordon Marshall already on the books.
The 6 foot 3 menace would ultimately spend time on the likes of Brondby, Galatasaray and Colombus Crew earlier than returning to Britain in 1997 to hitch Liverpool, albeit whereas enduring a bit-part function at Anfield.
It wasn’t till his subsequent swap to Blackburn Rovers in 2000 that the Ohio native actually started to make the Hoops pay for his or her blunder just a few years earlier, as he went on to show himself as a vastly reliable asset at Ewood Park.
Did Celtic make a mistake with Friedel?
No
Yes!
He racked up 355 appearances throughout his eight-year keep on the Lancashire membership, memorably scoring in a 3-2 defeat to Charlton Athletic in 2004, whereas he additionally ranks in the highest ten goalkeepers for penalties saved (six) in Premier League historical past.
That haul was bolstered by his show towards Sheffield United at Brammall Lane in 2006, as Friedel remarkably saved two penalties in the ultimate 20 minutes, having beforehand been dubbed the “Human Wall” for his penalty-saving exploits on the 2002 World Cup.
Moves to Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur adopted for the ever-reliable ‘keeper, together with his spell at Spurs seeing his record-breaking run of 310 consecutive league begins come to an finish, stretching from 2004 till 2012.
That beautiful file is little question a marker of simply what a constant determine the 51-year-old was for various years, with it testomony to each his high quality and his health that he was capable of take pleasure in a profession which spanned throughout three many years earlier than his retirement in 2015.
While it will have been arduous for Brady and co to envisage the American having fun with such success when he rocked up in Glasgow as a teen all these years in the past, it stays an actual case of remorse and what might need been for these at Celtic Park.