Mark Viduka spent two years at Celtic, despite an ominous start.
Mark Viduka has opened up on his bizarre early days as a Celtic player.
The Leeds United legend joined the Hoops in a £3.5 million deal back in 1998 but his spell in Glasgow got off to a terrible start.
Despite Celtic spending a decent chunk of money on signing him, the former Australia international jetted home only four days later.
BBC Sport reported at the time that the Premiership side were considering legal action, though Viduka eventually returned and wound up scoring 30 league goals across 37 games.
There were always elements of mystery behind the AWOL incident, and the 44-year-old former hitman has revealed to ESPN that he was simply ‘burned out’ and that his family and friends encouraged him to fly back to Scotland.
He said: “I was burned out. Burned out mentally. I just needed a break, and getting back to see my family and friends is what I needed. Thank God I did. They were understanding but urged me back. I have a lot to thank them for.”
A League Cup during the 1999-00 season was the only thing that Viduka won during his two-year spell with Celtic.
They could have won an SPL title in his last year, but Henrik Larsson suffered a career-threatening leg back in a UEFA Cup clash against Lyon in October of that season and Viduka wound up being their best centre-forward and the team seemed to suffer as a whole, with Rangers comfortably winning the title.
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