Celtic missed a trick on Steven Fletcher
Scottish champions Celtic continued the relentless defence of their league title with a 4-2 victory over Dundee United on Saturday afternoon, with the Outdated Agency outfit choosing up their 12th win of the season to this point to maneuver seven factors clear on the high of the desk.
It had been removed from plain crusing at Parkhead on the day, nonetheless, with Ange Postecoglou’s facet having been reliant on a dramatic late present from Kyogo Furuhashi and Liel Abada to bail them out of hassle, with it briefly trying as if the Tangerines had executed sufficient to nick some extent late on by way of Dylan Levitt.
The opposite goalscorer on the day for the guests had been that of former Scotland worldwide, Steven Fletcher, with the towering marksman changing from the penalty spot to keep up his spectacular report towards the Hoops, having now scored five objectives in 17 conferences with the Glasgow facet in his profession so far.
The 35-year-old has confirmed a daily thorn within the facet of these at Paradise through the years, though the veteran ace may nicely have turned out for the Bhoys if issues had labored out in another way, with the striker admitting that he had come near becoming a member of the membership previously.
The ten-cap menace just lately mentioned the repeated hyperlinks concerning a possible transfer to Celtic, stating that:
“Earlier on in my profession after I was linked with Celtic I didn’t have a lot to do with it.
“At that age you simply go away it to brokers and all that, solely discovering issues out once they’re just about executed.
“So I don’t know the way shut it got here again within the early days, however earlier than I signed for Stoke that was the closest a transfer to Celtic got here. It didn’t occur ultimately and I’ll inform that story in the future!
“However I used to be linked with Celtic quite a bit through the years.”
Because the 6 foot 1 ahead alluded to, the Hoops have often been linked along with his providers for over a decade now, with hypothesis having first begun after Fletcher burst onto the scene at Hibernian, with these at Celtic Park mentioned to have seen a bid rejected on the tail finish of the January window in 2009.
Stories once more emerged in 2015 that then-boss Ronny Deila was eager to prise the Shrewsbury-born striker from Premier League outfit Sunderland, with the participant mentioned to be out there for a charge of round £2m.
No deal got here to fruition, nonetheless, – doubtlessly because of the participant’s £50k-per-week wage – with Fletcher ultimately happening to hitch Sheffield Wednesday a 12 months later, following a short, weird stint on loan at Ligue 1 facet Marseille.
The imposing brute – who additionally plied his commerce for each Burnley and Wolverhampton Wanderers after leaving Easter Street – was once more near a transfer to Celtic Park again in the summertime of 2020 with the 2 events believed to be in talks, albeit with the previous Hibs ace ultimately becoming a member of Stoke Metropolis.
Now again in Scottish soccer at Tannadice, the £261k-rated man has made a stable begin to the season with four objectives and two assists in 15 video games in all competitions to this point, whereas his total profession tally stands at 159 objectives at membership degree.
Such a formidable return ought to point out that Fletcher could nicely have been a hit for these in Glasgow had a deal ever come off, with it little question a supply of frustration that the membership’s obvious curiosity couldn’t result in an settlement being struck.
