Eddie Howe is finally set to manage at Celtic Park...but for the visiting side.
The Newcastle boss is expected to bring his Premier League side to Glasgow for a pre-season friendly next year.
Howe, 47, turned down the opportunity to become Celtic manager three years ago after holding talks with members of the board.
Now, according to MailSport, Celtic are set to welcome Newcastle to Celtic Park on Saturday, July 19 for a pre-season friendly contest.
It is claimed the Newcastle tie will make up one of the final friendly matches for Celtic ahead of the new season.
It could mean a little bit of an awkward meeting for Howe as he visits the stadium of the club he rejected the chance to manage back in 2021. Celtic instead appointed Ange Postecoglou and enjoyed a trophy-laden spell.
Recently explaining his decision not to join Celtic on the Up Front podcast, Howe said: "During that period that I’d had out, I’d had a few job offers, but I’d said I’m not considering anything for a year. That year had passed and Celtic came up and I was immediately attracted to the job. I thought, ‘Wow, what an opportunity. What a football club’.
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“Great people as well. The people I met were unbelievable. So there was no downside for me, but I had to get my staff together. I could have gone in on my own and worked with the staff that are there.
"But I felt I needed to go in at my strongest. My strongest would have been with my team, so that’s Jason Tindall, Steven Purchase, Simon Weatherstone, and Dan Hodges. These are important people to me.
“So I’d made my decision. I was really keen to go. Jason had left Bournemouth, but I couldn’t get them together. I couldn’t get the team to all agree. And it wasn’t necessarily I needed every single one of them. But of course, that’s an important dynamic.
"And I didn’t feel that was right for me to take the opportunity. In that moment would have been wrong for Celtic as well, I think. So I declined the offer.”
On whether the suggestion he bottled the opportunity was unfair, Howe responded: "Well, it is, yeah. But that’s what happens in the media, doesn’t it? You jump to conclusions.
"I heard that, and you have to accept it. You can’t fight it.”
