Former Celtic winger Mikey Johnston has admitted his summer move to West Bromwich Albion almost didn’t come to fruition.
The Ireland international completed a £3m deadline day switch to The Hawthorns following a successful loan spell at the back end of last season.
Johnston scored seven goals and assisted two in a prosperous half-season stint.
His form was enough for West Brom to try and make the move permanent this summer, although they weren’t the only English Championship side interested in securing the 25-year-old’s signature.
The likes of Sheffield United and Burnley wanted to bring Johnston south of the border, but he eventually ended up back at West Brom.
He penned a four-year contract in the Midlands but has recently lifted the lid on some last-minute hitches surrounding the deal.
Indeed, Johnston thought he wasn’t likely to join the Baggies amidst financial-fair-play regulations.
“I thought it was an outside chance (of happening), you know the stuff with FFP and whatever,” he told BBC Radio West Midlands. “I knew I was probably going to be leaving Celtic. The options that I did have I thought it was going to the last day anyway.
“It was quite late, genuinely, but I tried to give West Brom every chance so it was possible to come back.”
Although Johnston eventually got his wish, he played for Celtic at the start of this season.
A cameo away to Hibs turned out to be the last of his 93 Hoops appearances, across which contributed to 25 goals and won 13 trophies.
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Meanwhile, Reo Hatate has made a brutal self-assessment about his international career with Japan.
The midfielder was called up by Hajime Moriyasu for games against China and Bahrain this month.
Hatate didn’t feature against the former, despite his side being four goals to the good at half-time.
The 26-year-old wasn’t even named on the bench for the clash with the Chinese, although his Hoops teammate Daizen Maeda came on to score in the dying embers.
