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There was a time when Celtic, just before Brendan Rodgers was in charge of the club for the first time, were interested in Brandon Mechele.

The Club Brugge centre-back, who is now 31 years of age, was a target for the Parkhead side back in 2015, but the move didn’t come to anything.

He has since stay at the Belgian side, which is something he might do for the rest of his life, meaning that if Celtic still wanted him a number of years later, it would have fallen on deaf ears, as he explained to De Krant van West-Vlaanderen, relayed by Voetbalnieuws.

Asked about the interest from Celtic, he said: “That Celtic and Hamburg were interested? I didn’t really doubt that. I wasn’t ready for that at the time.

“A few years ago, there was more doubt, when Bologna came forward, but in the meantime, I have said that I would prefer to stay at Club Brugge for the rest of my career.”

The once Celtic target has been at the club since 2002, and has only spent one season away from the club back in 2017, when he went out on loan to Sint-Truiden.

The centre-back has continued to be a key member of the Belgian side throughout most of his career, making 411 appearances in all competitions for them, scoring 18 goals and assisting another eight.