Sacha Boey has admitted he turned down Scottish Premiership giants Celtic in favour of a £2.2 million move to Galatasaray, speaking to Aslan Arenasi.
Thank the lord for Josip Juranovic.
Before the crafty Croatian arrived from Legia Warsaw during the final stretch of the transfer window, it looked for all the world as though Celtic’s summer-long pursuit of a right-back was destined to end in disappointment.
Try as they might, the Hoops couldn’t find a way to lure George Baldock – Ange Postecoglou’s number one target – from Sheffield United.
A deal to sign Valentin Rosier from Sporting Lisbon also fell through, while reported interest in Milan van Ewijk, Brandon Soppy and Argentina international Fabricio Bustos all came to nothing.
Boey, meanwhile, was reported to have turned down Celtic’s advances in favour of a move to the Turkish capital (L’Equipe).
Should Sacha Boey have chosen Celtic?
“Yes, Celtic wanted to sign me,” said the former Rennes youngster, adding credence to those rumours.
“When I had to make a decision, I chose Galatasaray because it was a bigger club. That’s why I chose Galatasaray.
“I know Galatasaray from my childhood and the matches they played in Europe. There are games they played against PSG before.
“I came to Turkey to improve myself and I will do the necessary work to achieve this. We want to do our best as a team on the field.”
Celtic supporters will have something to say about Boey’s claim Galatasaray are a “bigger” club.
What can’t be disputed, however, is two of Europe’s most historic and best-supported clubs have fallen on hard times of late.
Gala, like Celtic, made a mess of qualifying for the Champions League this season, suffering an embarrassing 7-2 aggregate defeat to PSV Eindhoven in June. The horror tie included a 5-1 defeat at the Philips Stadium that featured more defensive blunders than a Danny Baker stocking filler.
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