Anthony Stokes rejected a move from Arsenal to Celtic for Sunderland.
Anthony Stokes recently said that he turned down a move to Celtic from Arsenal to join Sunderland instead, as quoted in The Scottish Sun.
The 31-year-old striker, now at Persepolis in Iran, was on the books of Arsenal from 2003 until 2007 before he moved to Sunderland.
The striker could not make an impact at the Gunners, and Sunderland paid the North London outfit £2 million as transfer fee for him at the time, as reported by The Guardian.
Stokes was 18 years old at the time, and the striker recently said that he could have joined Celtic instead of the Black Cats in 2007.
As quoted by The Scottish Sun earlier this month, the striker said that Celtic wanted to sign him and he himself was hoping for a move to the Hoops.
However, according to Stokes, then Celtic manager Gordon Strachan told him that he was going to be the third-choice striker at the Bhoys, and he did not make the transfer.
Stokes eventually moved to Celtic 2010 and was on the books of the Glasgow giants until 2016.
Celtic legend David Provan has given his take on Stokes’s comments and has criticised him.
Provan wrote in The Scottish Sun: “More wisdom from former Republic of Ireland striker Anthony Stokes, who’s burned so many bridges he now plays in Iran.
“Recalling an approach from Celtic, Stokes turned down Gordon Strachan because the Hoops manager told him he’d be his No 3 striker.
“Stokes says: ‘I knew what sort of character Strachan was. If you don’t toe the line with him he can put you out of the picture completely.’ Hasn’t Stokes made a pretty good job of putting himself out of the picture?”
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