Celtic ‘keeper Craig Gordon explains how close he came to joining Chelsea

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The Scotland goalkeeper was close to joining Chelsea last January but decided to stick with the Celts to chase the treble.

In the final week of last January’s transfer window, Chelsea came calling for Celtic and Scotland no. 1 Craig Gordon.

Gordon, 35, has plenty of experience in the Premier League, with close to 100 appearances in England’s top flight from his time at Sunderland, and Chelsea viewed him as the perfect back up for Thibaut Courtois.

Should the Scotsman have signed for the Stamford Bridge club he may well have a Premier League winner’s medal under his belt. However, he has revealed that staying at Celtic and completing the club’s historic record-breaking treble was all worth it in the end, according to the Daily Record.

Gordon stated that he was keen on the Chelsea move after hearing of their interest, however, Brendan Rodgers kept blocking their advances. £4million is a lot of money for, at the time, a 34-year-old, but the Scotland ‘keeper was evidently too valuable to the squad to let go.

Gordon ended up playing 55 of Celtic’s 69 games in their domestic unbeaten run and concedes he would have major regrets had he left Parkhead for the Premier League champions

“To be able to look back and have that memory in my career is worth… I actually don’t think you could ever put a monetary value on that for however much you’d earn elsewhere or be part of any other team,” Gordon explained.

“To do that in Scotland with Celtic, it’s something that will be remembered forever. To be a part of that – I probably played the most games of that Invincible run – as something to look back on in your career, these are the things you value.

“Achievements like that, the number of caps you earn, they’re what you’ll hold on to and remember rather than how much money you’ve earned.

“That’s what I want to look back on my career and remember.”

When asked whether he would have regretted not sticking around for the latter half of Celtic’s emphatic season last time out, despite the prestige and monetary gain from playing for the Premier League giants, Gordon said, “Yeah, I think so.”