Rivaldo has spoken out about speculation that he was a Celtic transfer target in 2004.
Two years after helping Brazil to lift the World Cup alongside Ronaldo the striker was a free agent after his AC Milan contract had expired.
With Henrik Larsson quitting for Barcelona there was a massive gap for Martin O’Neill to fill but despite media speculation the approach for Rivaldo didn’t get past first base.
The Sun reports:
Looking back on the Hoops’ interest, the Betfair ambassador told SunSport: “Yep, I remember that Celtic were interested in me back then. I do not remember if we ever met to discuss it. I think Celtic sent an offer, like many other clubs at that time.
“I had meetings at Manchester, London and Liverpool. Sir Alex Ferguson was interested as well as Tottenham, we even had a meeting with Daniel Levy and Liverpool, Gerard Houlier called me.
“We also had a meeting in Manchester with Bolton’s president and their manager Sam Allardyce. I suppose there was no direct contact with Celtic. There was an offer, but it didn’t go as far as the ones from Man United, Liverpool or Bolton.”
In the end Celtic signed Henrik Camara on loan and Juninho but after six months both players had moved on after made little impact in Glasgow
Rivado signed for Olympiacos where he stayed for three years without getting close to the heights he had reached during his peak with Barcelona from 1997 to 2002.
In 1999 he won the Ballon d’Or, in international football he scored 35 goals in 74 appearances for Brazil covering 1993 to 2003.
