PAOLO Di DANIO has revealed his regrets at the way in which he left Celtic and how Rangers tried to sign him. The Italian attacker spent one year in Glasgow but will never stop thanking Tommy Burns for what he did for him.
Speaking to Sky Sports Football’s Transfer Talk Podcast Special, the 51-year-old detailed his career and how his move to Glasgow came about through Joe Jordan, even if he did hijack Rangers’ bid to get Di Canio to sign for Celtic.
“I knew Celtic wanted me and that was a little dream for me.
“When I was young I used to play Subbuteo with – strange for me at the time – this shirt with white and green horizontal stripes.
“So I thought: ‘ok, that will be a fantastic experience for me’.
“So I put the two things together, Celtic wanted to talk to me and I came over.
“It was a typical (situation) where there’s an agent who maybe knows the two clubs, they can help the situation to move on.
“They sent some messages through Joe Jordan, who used to play for AC Milan – but (to sign) for Rangers!
“But he said: ‘I know someone at Celtic and I know AC Milan, I saw them play. Paolo Di Canio can be a good prospect for this club’.
“Through him and another person – an Italian person that used to have contact with him – they started talking.”
Di Canio paid tribute to the late, great Tommy Burns, who signed him from Milan in 1996 for £1m. Burns helped the Italian and his family assimilate into new surroundings
“My fantastic man, who I will never stop thanking and is up to the sky now, is Tommy Burns.
“He was the man that gave me this opportunity. I had a fantastic time with him, not only about football but as a person.
“I’m never going to forget how he helped me and my family to try to help me integrate in the community, which was in a different land with a different language.
“Every day he tried to help me and my wife, his wife was the same too. It made it feel like there was a microcosm family, to feel warm in some way. Because it wasn’t easy at the beginning.
“Even if we are open people it was a bit difficult for my wife, with a little girl at home. For me it was easy: play football, play my sport, distract myself.
“But with them we felt straight away like we were in a second home. So I’m never going to forget what he did for me.”
Di Canio left under a cloud after a contract stand off with Fergus McCann. The Italian, then 27, refused to travel to the Netherlands for pre-season in 1997. This sped up the process, especially with Tommy Burns leaving and Wim Jansen coming in. Di Canio explained how his departure transpired and his regrets from what happened.
“Sometimes there is no need to say everything, sometimes you can be more diplomatic.
“At the time I was young, I was 27, and at the beginning of the season the chairman promised to me, without putting it on paper, a (better) contract.
“I wanted to move to this club because it’s a dream for me, I accept this money. But in the end, if I’m doing well, we’ll talk about a new contract. The chairman said: ‘ok if you’re doing well we’ll talk about this’.
“At the end of the season I became the best player in the league, I was voted by everybody the best player of the season. So there’s no reason to say different. I went to the chairman and said: ‘do you remember the promise that you made last year?’.
“He said: ‘ok, but in my opinion these people don’t know football because you didn’t have a good season’. Chairman, please!
“I was smiling, I thought we were joking. I’m not a selfish person, I would change the best player to win the league. But to say ‘you had a bad season’? Ok. Ciao ciao. Bye bye.”
“I’m sorry for the fans. I had pain inside because I had a fantastic time with the fans, they used to love me and I loved them.
“But I thought I couldn’t play under a person that would treat me in this way. I said: ‘ok, if you can sell me than sell me. I won’t play under you’. Then after a few months they sold me.”
In 37 appearances for Celtic, Di Canio scored 15 goals and whilst he did not win anything as Tommy Burns’ side came agonisingly close to knocking Rangers off their perch. Di Canio left for £4m in a deal that took the Italian to Sheffield Wednesday in August 1997. Although he was a top player, Celtic stopped ten in a row the season Di Canio left and replaced him with a £650k signing from Feyenoord, who didn’t turn out to be too bad.
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