I remember this guy coming to Celtic way back in 2010.
He came with a big reputation as a Tony Mowbray loan signing from Bayern Munich and was meant to slot into the Mowbray style of possession-based football.
And what made Edson Braafheid’s capture so high profile at the time was that he was just breaking into the Dutch national team.
Had to be a helluva player right?
Wrong.
The left-back only made a total of twelve appearances for the club during his sixth-month stint but did go on to play in a World Cup Final the following summer with the Netherlands that they eventually lost to Spain 1-0.
So why did such a talented player struggle to get into the Celtic team ahead of Mark Wilson, Lee Naylor and Paul Caddis.
Mark Wilson reveals all.
Speaking on Clyde 1 Superscoreboard, Wilson said, “Playing in a World Cup final does not make you a world beater.
“He was just not a nice person.
“He had decent ability but when he came [to the club] he just kept trying nutmeg people in training.
“You know, not taking it seriously.
“Every time he got the ball he’d roll his studs over it, entice somebody in and try and nutmeg them.
“And he just kept losing the ball! And then he would moan he wasn’t getting played.
“Don’t get me started on him.”
Braafheid clearly thought he was a cut above the rest of the players in that Celtic team and looking at his career after that, he eventually turned out to be another of the game’s journeymen.
Over a seventeen-year career he only made 353 first-team appearances with nine clubs which, incredibly, included two spells at both FC Twente and FC Utrecht [Transfermarkt].
And this kind of leans weight to Ange Postecoglou’s signing policy of not just recruiting a player. He recruits the man as well.