AIDEN McGEADY claims Celtic's determination to hit new heights persuaded him to sign a five-year deal with the club.
The 22-year-old winger shunned reported interest from a number of Barclays Premier League clubs to stay with the Scottish champions. And he insists the lure of domestic domination and breaking new ground on the continent was too great to resist.
"There are dreams here of winning the next five league titles," he said. "That's easier said than done, of course, and the realistic aim is just to win the next championship as well as having a good season in the Champions League.
"However, I do believe we have the squad to go further even though we don't have the spending power of bigger clubs in Europe. We do have the players. We have shown we are not a selling club either and you can see we don't need to sell our top players for any fee because of the financial structure that's been put in place.
"It's not as though we only have the makings of a good team here. I think we've got the backbone of a really good one and I think we can carry on from winning three titles on the trot and achieve even more."
The Republic of Ireland player's decision to stay at Parkhead will have disappointed clubs such as Sunderland and Newcastle who were reportedly interested in his services, but McGeady is unconcerned by such attentions. He is adamant he wants to remain forever in the affection of the Celtic support.
"I want to be remembered in the club's history rather than just a player who had a couple of good seasons and then jumped ship," he said. "The thought of being a legend is a bit far away just now, but that's what I'd like to be remembered as.
"I am happy here and I feel I still have a few years left here to develop and hone my game. This is the perfect place for me to progress as a player and achieve everything I want to achieve.
"Of course, you have ambitions and would consider playing elsewhere in the longer term, but I've just signed a five-year deal and my immediate future is here.
While McGeady is keen to write his name in the history books, he knows he can never inspire the adulation that former mentor Tommy Burns did.
McGeady would be content to receive a fraction of that admiration, for he himself has so much respect for former Celtic player, manager and coach Burns, whose funeral cortege was met by around 20,000 fans at Celtic Park in May.
"If people could remember me with even five per cent of the affection he received, I'd be happy," McGeady said.
The full article contains 472 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
