Elhamed refused to play for old club to ensure move to Celtic

NEW signing Hatem Abd Elhamed has revealed how he refused to play in a Europa League clash for his former club so he could force through a move to Celtic, writes Mark Walker.

The Israel internationalist has been a surprise hit since his summer £1.6m move from Hapoel Be’er Sheva and was outstanding in the recent Old Firm win.

And he’s revealed the torment he went through before the move because Celtic did not want him cup-tied for their European campaign. Elhamed said: “When you tell your manager a couple of hours before an extremely important game that you are refusing to play, it’s a super dramatic thing.

“I made an exceptionally courageous decision because I knew if I hadn’t done that, I probably wouldn’t have been able to make a transfer to Celtic.

“We were in Albania to play Laci in a Europa League game and it was clear I was going to be starting. It was massively important to the club because we needed a good European run. But on the morning of the game I got a phone call telling me that if I played with Be’er Sheva, the transfer to Celtic was off because I then wouldn’t be able to play for Celtic in Europe. For three hours I sat in the hotel lobby and drank endless cups of coffee. I couldn’t make up my mind. On the one hand, I desperately wanted to play for Celtic, but on the other hand I didn’t want to let down all the Be’er Sheva fans who had fallen in love with me and had an excellent relationship with. They treated me like a king.

“My head was gone and I couldn’t function because of the pressure of the decision. I knew I would be of no use to the team.

“I was too nervous to talk to the manager. I wrote him a long message asking not to play. He took it very badly and that’s not surprising since he had been brilliant with me and helped me so much. The owner, Alona Barkat, also was far from happy. But I