Celtic ‘should have’ signed World Cup winner Olivier Giroud before Premier League giants Arsenal snapped up the striker for around £12 million in the summer of 2012, former Hoops coach Peter Grant tells Go Radio.
From Aaron Hickey to Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Noa Lang to John McGinn, Celtic – like almost every club – have their fair share of regrets in the transfer market.
Take Giroud for instance. During the 2009/10 season – his breakthrough campaign in senior football – Celtic boss Tony Mowbray travelled across the Channel to watch Giroud in the flesh. Just two years later, that very same player was joining Arsenal after firing Montpellier to the most unexpected to Ligue 1 triumphs; a Leicester-like underdog story unlikely to ever be repeated in the PSG-era.
“We should have had him,” remembers Grant, who followed Mowbray from West Brom to Parkhead. “I’d followed him for a long time because I like to watch young players play. And (Giroud was) somebody that was scoring goals in the lower divisions in France.
“We went to see him. And, sure as fate, the night Tony went to see him, he scored a hat-trick. Tony was very, very impressed and we tried to get the deal done.
“He ended up going to Montpellier. They got promoted, they won the league that year and then he got a move six months later to Arsenal.”
Celtic could have signed AC Milan star Olivier Giroud
A decade later, Giroud is still going strong at the age of 35. The evergreen centre-forward added a Serie A crown to his enviable trophy collection last season, exercising AC Milan’s so-called ‘number nine curse’ with 14 goals in 35 games during an outstanding season at the Rossoneri.
“I did have contact with Celtic,” Giroud explained recently, admitting that Middlesbrough also showed an interest “I would have experienced incredible atmospheres at Celtic Park, and could have had a springboard into the Premier League.
“But I chose Montpellier for three reasons; first, I wanted to make an impact in Ligue 1 before leaving. I had never played a Ligue 1 match before signing for Montpellier. Secondly, my entourage and agents advised me to join Montpellier.
“My agents would have earned more money if they had sent me to Celtic. Money has been important in my career, but it has never been my main aim. That is also why I preferred to move to Montpellier. Finally, I had a phone call with the late ‘Loulou’ (legendary President Louis Nicollin), who convinced me not to go to Scotland.
“He found the right words to convince me, and I signed for Montpellier.”
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