Andrew Gutman has confirmed that he was refused a work permit to play for Celtic.
The 22-year-old spent time training with the Development Squad in January and featured as a trialist in friendly matches against St Mirren and Arbroath.
It was widely expected that his signing would be announced after the match at Arbroath on January 19 but the defender returned to the USA before his signing was announced late on on January 31.
Initially Celtic tried to loan the defender to Nashville SC but that was rejected by the MLS before a loan was announced with Charlotte Independence who are coached by Jim McGuinness.
Andrew Gutman races through the entire Maryland defense to deliver the @IndianaMSOC goal and give the Hoosiers a 1-0 lead over the Terps. #BTNStandout x @AutoOwnersIns pic.twitter.com/BIoI0zVetr
— Indiana On BTN (@IndianaOnBTN) November 9, 2018
“I had work permit issues and I was able to come back to America and get a loan to Charlotte under Jim McGuinness who coached at Celtic for seven years,” Gutman told America Soccer Now. “For me it was an ideal situation. I had to go away from Celtic for a bit but at the same time, I still feel a part of it because the coach knows the Celtic way. I still feel like I am a part of Celtic and I can work to try to make it back to the first team there.”
Having been refused a work permit in January it seems unlikely that a spell in the second tier of the MLS will improve his prospects of being given the green light to play in Scotland.
With Calvin Miller and Daniel Church available Celtic aren’t short of options to cover for Kieran Tierney with Jonny Hayes stepping in impressively away to Valencia.
Let’s hope that they are soon reunitedhttps://t.co/uwlv54u72K
— Joe McHugh (@videocelts) March 7, 2019