Bolo Zenden has revealed he almost ended his career at Celtic.
The midfielder, who played for Barcelona, Chelsea and Liverpool, said he headed north for a trial under Neil Lennon.
He played for a number of clubs throughout his career, including PSV Eindhoven, Middlesbrough, Marseille, and Sunderland.
He left Sunderland and was a free agent.
He took part in a week's training with the Parkhead side, and even featured in a friendly.
However, Lennon decided against pursuing a deal.
Zenden told BetVictor: "When I was a free agent, I went up to Celtic and had a spell where I trained with them and even played in a friendly game.
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"This was a long time ago. Glenn Loovens was there at the time.
"Did it come close? In a way, it did. I stayed from Monday to Friday, went back home for the weekend, and was normally going to report back on the Monday.
"However, it was in October and they decided not to sign anyone outside of the transfer window.
"They preferred to wait until the January transfer window. I was a free agent, so they could have signed me in between.
"So did it get close? No. I think in the end, in football, you're only close when you have a pen in your hand to sign the papers.
"I believe, and I'm sure, that in football there are many more deals that don't go through than the ones that fall through.
"Many more."
The Netherlands international was capped 54 times by his country.
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