Alex Rae convinced me to reject Celtic as a teenager – then my career exploded in the Premier League

Alex Rae convinced me to reject Celtic as a teenager – then my career exploded in the Premier League

Football players rarely turn down a potentially life-altering move to Celtic in favor of playing in Scotland’s second division. It’s practically unheard of.

But when Gordon Strachan failed to entice the young midfield player to Parkhead in 2006, Kevin McDonald did just that. After Celtic’s £75k offer for the highly regarded youth was rejected by First Division Dundee, McDonald made it known that he wanted to stay at Dens Park. At the time, he stated: “I find Celtic’s desire to be really gratifying. However, given my age, I believe I should remain with Dundee, where I should hopefully gain more positive experience. I might be able to move on in the future.

The 17-year-old made a daring move. McDonald refused the lure of a huge pay increase to stay playing first-team football at the Dees rather than risking fading away in Celtic’s reserves and junior teams. McDonald was in high demand because of the lurking Rangers and Tottenham Hotspur. After nearly twenty years, the 36-year-old has no regrets.

“Dundee gave me my first chance in professional football, and while it might sound cliché, I’ll always be grateful for that,” he stated in an exclusive interview with Record Sport, provided by Sky Bet. It meant a lot at the moment when they rewarded me with a new contract because they believed in me. At that point, my main priorities were to stay, absorb as much information as I could, and advance as a player.

“Although I knew I would eventually move on, I did so at the appropriate moment. These days, loyalty in football can be restricted, to put it mildly, but after talking to my agency and family, I decided that staying was the best move. It was actually fairly simple to make in the end.

Another important factor in maintaining the budding star at Dundee was boss Alex Rae. Although the former Rangers player obviously had McDonald’s best interests in mind, it’s safe to assume that given his loyalties, he would prefer not to have done his Old Firm opponents any favors. Most importantly, Rae kept his word and ultimately assisted the young player in obtaining his lucrative transfer.

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