Premier League star admits 'dream' Celtic move could become a reality
No matter what heights you reach in the game, the pull of your childhood club will always be strong.
That appears to be especially true for Liverpool's Andy Robertson, who, despite playing in a Champions League Final just a few months ago, is already talking about a possible return to Celtic - the club that released him when he was 15.
The Scotland captain has never tried to hide his love of Celtic, but in a recent interview he seemed to suggest that a move north of Hadrian's Wall might become a reality in the not-too-distant future.
Robertson has carved out an incredible career since leaving The Hoops back in 2009, winning the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and League Cup with Liverpool.
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However, its easy to forget that before he was the star Left-back for one of the world's biggest clubs, he had to cut his teeth in the Scottish football league.
Even so, the 28-year-old wasn't expected to be playing back in his native country anytime soon, but as he told BT Sport's Currie Club Podcast, it was always a dream of his to play in the green and white of Celtic.
He admitted: "Every time I watch Celtic, I consider it [playing for them]."
“When you watch them and see a packed Celtic Park... as a fan you always have that dream. Ideally I want to finish my career here at Liverpool. If I can stay at the top of my game, at the top of the tree my whole career, that’s the route I want to go down.
“But also, when I look at Celtic and when I was growing up, I was thinking I wanted to give them my best years. When I was at Queen’s Park I had a dream of still playing with Celtic and always dreamed of giving my best years to Celtic."
Robertson's love for his adopted city of Liverpool is clear, as he has been with The Reds since 2017. Playing 167 times for the club since then, it should come as little surprise to anyone that he'd also be happy to finish his career on Merseyside.
Even if Liverpool did wish to sell him one day, the Left-back insists that he doesn't want to move to Celtic if his best years are firmly behind him.
He added: “And now I don’t want to go as a 34 or 35-year-old old guy that my uncles start hating on me because I can’t move any more! Time will tell. I’m very much a person who lives in the moment."
“I don’t look too far ahead and I don’t often look back. There will be a time for that.”
'Robbo', as he is known to his teammates, does do some reflecting in the same interview, however.
As he explains to BT Sport, it was at second-tier Queens Park where he managed to get his career back on track again following his release from Celtic's academy.
Describing why he was let go by the Glasgow giants, the Scot says: “Height was a part of it, also the physicality – I wasn’t exactly muscle-bound. I got released at a time of quite a lot of change at Celtic. Quite a lot of players at all age groups got released."
“It’s not quite make or break but at the time there were two options – go full-time football or get released.
"There’s nowhere else to turn. When I was 15 and getting let go from the biggest club in Scotland, certainly one of the two, Queen’s Park was local to me and I was still at school, so it was fairly easy to go there."
The rest, as they say, is history.
Topics: Andy Robertson, Liverpool, Celtic, Scotland, Jurgen Klopp, SPL
Tom Fenton