If you’re a Celtic fan in the Transfer Tavern, lets face it, your side is expected to win week-in, week-out…. It’s a difficult life to lead!
Apart from when the Champions League rolls around each year, the Hoops are always the favourites and with Rangers just coming back from their liquidation nightmare, they’ve had it pretty easy the past few years.
Five titles in five years hasn’t gone unnoticed and even the barman here at the Transfer Tavern feels like they need a bit of competition.
But there are a few players that haven’t always helped achieve success at Celtic Park and some examples are a little high-profile than others.
So with that in mind, we want to have a look at some of the horror-show Celtic players that have been on their books over the past few years.
Here’s THREE over-hyped Celtic players that never made it…
Amido Baldé
“If a deal is reached where I end up playing for Celtic, the fans will be asking themselves after just a few games, ‘Gary who’?” were the words spoken by Amido Balde as he came through the airport prior to signing for the Hoops.
Things are about to get pretty awkward because after two years, his contract was terminated with the striker having dispatched only three times in 24 appearances.
He’s since had spells in Belgium, Israel, France and now plays his football in Angola. What a comedown!
Derk Boerrigter
Derk “sicknote” Boerrigter joined the Hoops in 2013 with quite the reputation.
But unfortunately for the Dutchman, it wasn’t for his performances on the pitch.
He’s known for being horrifically injury-prone and managed just eight starts since limping off midway through his debut in 2013. He scored once in a three-year spell and scored just once.
He’s now 29, without a club and struggling to find another team. Didn’t make it? Absolutely.
Du Wei
The easiest pick on this list is Du Wei, who unfortunately not only goes down as one of the most over-hyped players in Celtic’s history but also one of the worst too.
He started his career in 2002 with Shanghai Shenhua, long before the Chinese League was known for it’s financial power and influence.
But Wei’s big break came in 2005, when he was offered the opportunity to go on-loan to Scottish giants Celtic. It was touted as one of the most exciting moves in Chinese footballing history but the singular performance given just wasn’t good enough.
Wei made his debut in a cup game against Clyde on 9 January 2006 in a shock 2-1 defeat. He was hauled off at half-time and never played in a Celtic shirt again, despite signing a six-month loan deal.
He returned to China and led a quiet existence playing for Hangzhou Greentown, Shandong Luneng and now Hebei China Fortune. He had a massive break but didn’t take it.
