Hibs complete signing of former Celtic and Everton winger Aiden McGeady

The 36-year-old has put pen to paper on a one-year deal to join the Easter Road club after leaving newly-promoted Championship side Sunderland earlier this summer following a five-year stint on Wearside.

It’s a reunion for the player and new Hibs boss Lee Johnson, who was McGeady’s manager for 13 months at the Stadium of Light.

The attacker becomes Hibs’ eighth signing of the summer window (most in the cinch Premiership thus far) as Johnson looks to rebuild the squad in his own image after succeeding Shaun Maloney.

As the Evening News reported on Thursday evening, Hibs were keen to get the deal done in time so McGeady could fly out with the rest of the squad for their pre-season training camp in Portugal on Sunday morning. After the player successfully passed a medical it was just a case of dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s.

Johnson expressed his joy at managing to convince McGeady to join him in the Scottish capital as he promised the supporters a player who will excite next term.

“We are delighted to bring Aiden to Hibernian FC,” he told the club’s website. “He will bring skill, experience and gravitas to our team. Aiden is a top player, has had a fantastic career to date and we aim to extend and accentuate his abilities within the blend of our new-look squad.

“We will also look to utilise Aiden’s fantastic leadership qualities to help guide and get the best out of our young forward players.”

McGeady has enjoyed an illustrious career which started with Celtic after he came through the youth ranks in 2004. He made over 250 appearances for the Hoops, winning four league titles and three cups before moving to Spartak Moscow for a £9.5 million fee.

After three-and-a-half years in Russia he moved to Everton in January 2014. He would fail to hold down a regular place at Goodison, going on loan to Sheffield Wednesday and Preston North End before joining Sunderland in 2017.

He joins Nohan Kenneh, David Marshall, Lewis Miller, Jair Tavares and Momodou Bojang in signing up for Johnson’s Leith revolution this transfer window, while Ewan Henderson and Rocky Bushiri also signed permanent deals after loan spells last season.

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