How Declan Rice almost signed for Celtic: Arsenal free kick ace has Hoops sliding door in his stardom journey

His name is in lights after an iconic Champions League performance - but could Celtic have had a glimpse of that themselves?

Declan Rice is the talk of the footballing world right now after two stunning free kicks for Arsenal against Real Madrid in a 3-0 win. Both will be played on Gunners highlights reels for years to come, his crowning moment since joining the club from West Ham United in 2023. Prior to that big money move though, there was potential of joining Celtic.

Chances were slim at the Hammers as he broke through the ranks, and in Brendan Rodgers’ first stint in charge at Parkhead, a deal was just about done to bring Rice into his mix. As revealed by the Hoops boss last season, one injury at the Hammers resulted in Celtic sliding doors changing the trajectory of the England international’s career.

Declan Rice’s missed Celtic opportunity

Rodgers told the Celtic Way in 2024 after Celtic beat St Mirren in the January of that year: “Ideally, you’d want to get them in [early]. Deals can be complicated and things that might have been there for three or four months can fall away. That’s always the challenge - it only takes one injury to [change the situation around] a player who was lined up to come in. I remember when I was here the first time, we spent about three months looking for Declan Rice to come in.

“Declan was all set to come in and then all of a sudden they had an injury, he stayed and got in the team and the rest is history. That’s not the club’s fault - it’s just the way it goes. We have a number of positions we want to prioritise; there are other positions where we won’t be able to do anything until the summer, I know that. But what I do know is that we want to improve the squad and the club are very happy to support that.”

Rice reaction to free kicks

Speaking after the quarter-final first leg win, Rice said on Amazon Prime: “I don't know whether it will ever sink in. I've gone back to my phone then and it's gone crazy. To score my first free-kick in a game is a special one. And then when I got the second one... I just had the confidence. I'm speechless really. I don't think it's going to hit me, what I've done. It's a historic night.

“It looks far out. We were going to touch and set it - me and Martin, but (Kylian) Mbappe was kind of stood too close. But then I thought, I've got the keeper's side, I practise this so much - I was going to go for it. If it went over the bar it wouldn't matter.

"It's been in the locker, but I've hit the wall too many times or it's gone over the bar. I'm excited. I'm happy. I'm over the moon. But in a few years' time this will really hit me that what I've done tonight was really special."