Alex Iwobi has revealed that he was 'meant' to join Celtic before a huge moment in his career.
Aged 16, the Nigeria international was part of Arsenal's academy set-up.
The attacking midfielder has lifted the lid on his option to join the Scottish Premiership champions at that time.
Crystal Palace was another club looking to sign him, however, Iwobi opted to stay put by agreeing to a football scholarship in North London.
Iwobi went on to play over 100 times for the Gunners, while also turning out for fellow Premier League sides Everton and Fulham.
"When you actually have to leave school and it’s full time football, that’s when I thought 'okay, it’s getting serious now that I need to buckle up'," the 28-year-old told The Fulham Fix. "And at 16, I got told I had the option to leave Arsenal or go to another club or sign a scholar. So I was like, what do I do here?
"Because I mean, I couldn’t make, I just think of the decisions I made when I was 16 and none of them were sensible. You didn’t have an option to sign for Arsenal, I’m afraid.
“Everyone has different paths, but I’ve always had a great support system. Like my dad and my mum and my sister have always been around to say that. When I was younger, there’s many times I’ve been told, oh, you’re not good enough, you’re not good enough.
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“And that was just another moment. I was the only one playing for England at the time that didn’t get offered a professional contract where there was like six of them. So I only just had a scholar and they said, 'oh, if you want to go, you can go'.
“So I was meant to go to Celtic. I went to see Crystal Palace. I know there was one more team I can’t remember, but I remember going to Crystal Palace and training ground at 16.
"Me and my dad said 'No, you’ve been in this position before where they said, you’re not good enough, go prove them wrong again'. So I was like, okay, cool, I’m going to sign my scholar.”
