Celtic legend Scott Sinclair has found a new club at the age of 33, going back to where it all began at League One Bristol Rovers - meaning he will link up with Joey Barton in an Old Firm rivalry rekindling.
Sinclair joined Celtic under Brendan Rodgers in 2016 after falling out of favour at Aston Villa, and tore up the Scottish Premiership with 40 league goals in just 105 league games under the Northern Irishman and, later, Neil Lennon. Helping the club to the famous "treble treble", Sinclair's reign saw Celtic win every domestic trophy in sight as they romped to Scottish greatness before he was sold to Preston North End in January 2020 under Lennon's guidance.
However, he failed to hit the heights he achieved at Parkhead in his time in Lancashire, subsequently being released at the end of last season. Yet at the age of 33, Sinclair still had something to give in his career - and he has returned to the club where it all began at Bristol Rovers - where Rangers flop Joey Barton is currently manager. Having started out at the Memorial Stadium at the age of nine, Sinclair made two appearances for "The Gas" before being sold to Chelsea at a 16-year-old in 2005 - and the Hoops hero could not hide his delight at a return to his roots after an 18-year-hiatus.
"I'm delighted to back at the place where my career began," Sinclair told the club's official website.
"I've been training for a couple of weeks, and The Quarters (training ground) is certainly very different to where we trained when I was younger! I've always wanted to come back to the club to give back what they've given me at the start of my footballing journey."
Barton also spoke of his glee at securing a deal to bring the goalscoring winger to back to the south west. He added: "We are delighted to have brought Scott into the group. He has been training with us for a couple of weeks now. We're enjoying having him in with us. He's a fit lad, his experience and quality is superb and he will strengthen us further as we move into these winter months."
Sinclair and Barton faced off against each other once in the Old Firm Derby, with the winger scoring in a 5-1 rout at Celtic Park back in September 2016 as Barton fell to a loss in his only ever appearance in the much-heralded fixture.
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