Adam Le Fondre came close to joining Hibernian when Neil Lennon was in charge - and is determined to prove he is not past his best now he has finally arrived.
The 36-year-old has penned a 12-month deal with the Easter Road club following five years in Australia with Sydney FC.
It was before he headed Down Under that he almost made the switch to Edinburgh when Lennon, who worked with the striker during their time together at Bolton Wanderers, making a bid to reunite the pair in the capital.
He realises some may question the wisdom of Hibs now recruiting a player who will turn 37 in December.
However, he is convinced he still has plenty to offer - both on and off the pitch.
“I had a great time with Lenny, even though I only spent three months with him,” said the former Reading, Cardiff City and Rochdale forward. “We spoke a lot. I loved him. He was volatile! But he was my sort of person, he really got me as a player.
“He brought some of the best football out of me in a short period of time so I was really eager to work with him. So when he came calling we spoke a lot but, at that time, the financial side couldn’t quite work out, and I ended up moving back to Bolton.
“It was close, it was easy for me to talk to Lenny. I liked what he had to say, the way he wanted his teams to play. I knew I would be successful in his teams so that was never an issue for me.
“I’m not scared about what is going to happen here. I know there will be doubters and I know I need to prove people wrong. I’ve done that my whole career.
“When the opportunity to come to Hibs arose I was really enthused about it. It’s something different. I didn’t really want to go back to England because I was a little disillusioned with the football there. I wanted to try something different.”
That something will take Le Fondre into European football for the first time in his career as well as the prospect of playing in front of huge crowds away to Celtic and Rangers.
“A little bit, yeah, as you can imagine,” he added when asked if he feared those possibilities had passed him by. “That’s where the doubt comes in from the people on the outside. They look at a 36-year-old signing and they think that I was close to signing years ago so we don’t want him now, etc, etc.
“But, for me, goals never change, and I know for a fact that I will score goals, if service is there, that’s a given. For me, I have no qualms about what is going to happen and I’m really excited for this European adventure. We need to take each round as it comes and go from there.
“The drive and hunger in me to win games and score goals in Europe is something that will never go away. As you get older, you have to set goals and challenges - that’s what keeps me young.
“I always want to try and get better and do new things because, ultimately, I might never get this opportunity again. The special moments are few and far between. I’ve been lucky that I’ve won titles in England and India and Australia. I’ve been very successful.
“I want to keep being successful. It’s great that I’ve played in the Asian Champions League. Now I have the opportunity to come home to the UK and play in the Scottish Premiership and Europe, which I’m really excited about.”
Adam Le Fondre has backed Marco Tilio to be a success at Celtic.
Le Fondre was a team-mate of the Hoops’ new signing for a season at Sydney FC before watching the Australian flourish at Melbourne City.
He does not believe it will be all plain sailing for the 21-year-old but is convinced Celtic have an ‘exciting’ prospect on their hands.
He said: “He’s a really good player; exciting, a little bit raw still but a great ball carrier, good with both feet. I think he’ll do well.
“Obviously he’ll need to adjust to the league and the physicality, and the understanding of a manager and tactical nuances, because the A-League is a little bit more open and transitional, especially in the second-half of games.
“So, he may not get the space he’ll like and maybe a few more tackles than he’s used to, but I can see him doing really well here.
“There’s been a huge development in him since we played together at Sydney.
“We drew 1-1 with Melbourne City just before I left and I said to him afterwards, ‘bloody hell, mate, you’ve improved since the last time I saw you!’.
“To see his progression over two and a bit years, continually ascending, has been really good because he’s a fantastic player and he did show glimpses of that when he was younger.
“He really grasped his chance at Melbourne and must have worked really hard because he’s turned into a fantastic young player.
“He’s got a huge opportunity at Celtic now and it’s on him to see where he can take his career off the back of that, but I think he’ll do really well.”
