Hatem Abd Elhamed has revealed that he refused to play for Hapoel Be’er Sheva to force through his transfer to Celtic.
The defender was in Albania for a Europa League qualifier when Celtic’s interest firmed up as Neil Lennon looked to bolster his defence.
Elhamed has become a key player at Be’er Sheva over the last two years but after brief spells in Belgium and Romania the 28-year-old knew that there might not be many more opportunities to earn a big money move abroad.
The defender told The Sun:
When you tell your manager a couple of hours before an extremely important game that you are refusing to play, it’s a super dramatic thing. I made an exceptionally courageous decision because I knew if I hadn’t done that, I probably wouldn’t have been able to make a transfer to Celtic.
We were in Albania to play Laci in a Europa League game and it was clear I was going to be starting. It was massively important to the club because we needed a good European run but on the morning of the game I got a phone call telling me that if I played with Be’er Sheva, the transfer to Celtic was off because I then wouldn’t be able to play for Celtic in Europe.
For three hours I sat in the hotel lobby and drank endless cups of coffee. I couldn’t make up my mind. On the one hand, I desperately wanted to play for Celtic, but on the other hand I didn’t want to let down all the Be’er Sheva fans who had fallen in love with me and had an excellent relationship with.
Elhamed went straight into the Celtic side at right-back and immediately made a favourable impression with his awareness and efficient use of the ball.
Injury brought his run in the team to a halt but he returned to action at Ibrox and excelled as Celtic snuffed out the hype and hysteria of the home side.
After starting out at right-back he moved in to central defence to partner Christopher Jullien after Nir Bitton went off injured midway through the second half.
