Gary Lineker has revealed that he could have been a Celtic player.
The former England striker was one of the top marksmen of the eighties taking his career from Leicester to Everton, Barcelona and Spurs while scoring 48 goals in 80 international appearances highlighted at the 1986 and 1990 World Cup Finals.
Celtic’s scouting in the early seventies didn’t reach far outside of Scotland but according to Lineker there was an offer to head north and make the grade in Glasgow.
Speaking to Danny Baker in the Behind Closed Doors podcast he said: “I only ever had one trial and it was with Leicester.
“I’d three trials with them and I scored a few goals.
“I got asked to go for trials for three clubs – Leicester, Leeds and the other might have been Celtic but I never went to the other two because I just wanted to play for Leicester.
“I’d have been about 12. I was scouted but I was tiny – I didn’t really grow until I was 17.”
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Had Lineker signed an S-form for Celtic in the early seventies he would have found himself coming through the ranks alongside Roy Aitken, Tommy Burns and George McCluskey.
After leaving school in 1977 he decided to join his hometown club Leicester City and made his breakthrough under Jock Wallace.
In season 84/85 he was the top scorer in the First Division with 24 goals earning him a transfer to Everton, after a similarly prolific season at Goodison Park he found himself on the move again to Barcelona.
