Let’s take you back to 2007, Celtic fans, when your club decided to spend around £4m on an Italian midfielder named Massimo Donati.
It was a decent amount of money at the time, and there was a reason behind the expenditure, as the player had just had a great season on loan at Atalanta from Milan, and the Parkhead scouts were impressed.
All of this information comes from the man himself, who spoke to Gazzetta dello Sport ahead of Celtic’s Europa League game against Lazio.
He continued: “It was in 2007, after a great season with Atalanta. Celtic arrived, the scouts had come to Bergamo and that day I played a great game. It was Sheva [Shevchenko]! He told me to go there. It sounded very strange. Andrij told me to go to Scotland? He had contacts with the management.
“I knew little about the country but the challenge intrigued me. It was a fundamental part of my life.”
Tattooing a four leaf clover on his chest, the Italian quickly became known as The Legend in the green and white half of Glasgow thanks to a goal against Shakhtar in the Champions League.
He said: “When the fans meet me on the street, they still call me The Legend. It comes from them, it’s not written anywhere and it’s not in the hall of fame. If you do something special, you become a legend for people, that’s it. It took me two years, Di Canio only six months.”
Now back in Scotland as a technical coach at Kilmarnock FC under Angelo Alessio, his days are spent analysing data and trying to improve the Scottish side who currently sit fifth in the Scottish Premiership, eight points off the leaders, his former club.
