‘I have to be honest’: Paolo Di Canio explains the real reason why he joined Celtic

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Celtic have had some great players grace the Parkhead turf over the years. Fans of my age will remember the enigma that was Paulo Di Canio.

The fiery Italian lit up the Scottish game during his short time at the club and was probably one of the most gifted footballers the Celtic fans had seen at the club in years.

A 1996 summer signing from AC Milan, Di Canio arrived in Glasgow to great fanfare and now, he has spoken about the real reason why he joined the club.

Di Canio said [Up Front podcast], “I used to play Subbuteo when I was younger with this incredible shirt because I never saw before in my life, white and green.

“I have to be honest, I didn’t have even one moment of doubt when I went there. It was already cold in August, four seasons in one day.

“I thought maybe someone should say maybe I go back to Italy but I said I wanted to be here. I want to stay here because with this weather I can fight.

“I can fight, I can play and also the warmth, you know, the welcome from the fans made completely the difference.

“If I had a little doubt that disappeared in an instant. It’s a big club. The stadium was amazing. Parkhead was amazing.”

The Italian spent one full season at Celtic. At the time, the club were going through a barren spell. One trophy in six years, Celtic were in the midst of watching Rangers go on to win nine in a row and although Tommy Burns’ side ran them close, the legendary manager just couldn’t stop Rangers reaching that achievement.

Di Canio had a very good season at the club. Voted Players’ Player of the Year, the Italian scored 15 goals in 37 appearances.

Contract issues (which I’ll get into later), meant that Di Canio fell out of favour with Fergus McCann before leaving the club to join Sheffield Wednesday. But one thing can’t be denied, Di Canio really was a special talent and gave the fans a lot of good memories despite his short period at the club.

In other news, ‘Still might’: Pat Bonner believes ‘top drawer’ Celtic player could still leave in January