Celtic were beaten to Kenji Gorre signing by Swansea.
Dutch winger Kenji Gorre has been speaking to Wales Online about nearly signing for Celtic in 2013.
Gorre was a free agent after leaving Manchester United’s academy and spent time with Neil Lennon at Celtic, who was still manager at the time.
Then Swansea swooped in and won the race for his signature. He says this was because he did not have a firm offer on the table.
Gorre said: “I actually went to Celtic for a couple of days. Neil Lennon wanted to see me and wanted to see me play. He called me straightaway and that was actually a good experience.
“Then Swansea called and they offered me a two-year deal. They’d obviously heard of me and obviously done their research. They maybe saw me play when I was up at Celtic. I actually don’t know. But they were really intrigued and really happy.
“Celtic also wanted to sign me permanently and I had a couple of other offers, but Swansea were the only ones to really put their paper where their mouth was.”
Unfortunately for Gorre, he has not left Celtic regretting their decision.
He was prolific for Swansea’s under-23 team, but could not break into the first team as a regular under successive managers.
He left to join Portuguese side Nacional, where he has played 20 times this past season and scored two goals.
Gorre is still just 25 and has plenty of time to go on and fulfil his potential. After years of playing academy football, just featuring at a competitive level is progress.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
