Celtic asked me to hang about to sign for them – I said no and joined Hearts instead

Former Scotland midfielder Michael Stewart has revealed that he turned down a potential move to Celtic before returning to Hearts. Stewart was available as a free agent following a two-year spell at Hibernian when Celtic, managed by Gordon Strachan, showed interest in signing him.

According to Stewart, Celtic asked him to wait while the club attempted to offload high-earning midfielders Thomas Gravesen and Jiri Jarosik. Rather than waiting for the Glasgow side to clear their wage bill, Stewart chose to make a permanent return to Hearts.