Newcastle United’s Freddie Woodman allegedly joined Aberdeen over Celtic last month.
Aberdeen loanee Freddie Woodman has told The Scottish Sun that he only wanted a January move to Pittodrie despite claims of interest from today’s opponents Celtic.
Just a day before the January transfer deadline, Aberdeen were rocked by the news that first-choice goalkeeper Joe Lewis would be out for three months through injury, meaning manager Derek McInnes had to dip back into the transfer market.
In the final moments of deadline day, Aberdeen snapped up Newcastle goalkeeper Freddie Woodman on loan until the end of the season, completing a whirlwind night for the youngster given that he was on the bench for Newcastle United against Burnley in the Premier League that evening.
Woodman has now made three appearances for Aberdeen, keeping the one clean sheet, and his fourth appearance for the Dons should come today against Celtic – a team he actually turned down on deadline, according to reports.
The Daily Record noted that, after Celtic received similar news about goalkeeper Craig Gordon’s injury status, they attempted to hijack Aberdeen’s move to take the Newcastle youngster on loan until the summer; a path once taken by now-Southampton goalkeeper Fraser Forster.
However, Woodman kept his word and joined Aberdeen instead, leaving Celtic to sign Dundee stopper Scott Bain on loan until the end of the season, handing him a backup role behind Dorus de Vries.
Now, ahead of today’s meeting with Celtic, Woodman has told The Scottish Sun that he did have interest from other clubs, but only wanted to sign for Aberdeen, and was adamant that he would keep his word about a move to Pittodrie.
Woodman noted that he signed for Aberdeen straight after facing Burnley and was delighted to sign due to Aberdeen’s history, and he will now be hoping to be a thorn in Celtic’s side this afternoon after snubbing the Bhoys.
“As soon as we found out Aberdeen were interested I was like ‘How quickly can I get up there and sign?’ It’s such a massive club and such a great opportunity to come and play for a team that’s expected to win all the time,” said Woodman. “All window I had teams wanting to get me, and it’s always nice to be in that position. But as soon as I spoke to the manager here, I wanted to sign.”
“At that point, if Newcastle were going to let me out I was going to Aberdeen, and once I’d given my word it was a case of when, not if. I was on the bench against Burnley on transfer deadline day, just sitting waiting to get through it and get signed, and I did it straight after the game. That was a great moment for me because I know how big this club is and its history,” he added.
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