St Johnstone boss names Aberdeen star he tried to sign as 124-goal Celtic great says he doesn't feel welcome at Parkhead

High-flying Aberdeen play host to St Johnstone in a huge match at both ends of the Scottish Premiership table.

The Dons are looking to end a four-match winless run and rediscover their momentum in this season’s title race while St Johnstone will look to stage an upset as they attempt to ease their relegation fears.

Fans of both Hearts and Hibs will be hoping that Aberdeen do them a favour as they both look to climb up the Premiership table.

The match comes as a huge test for Saints boss Simo Valakari, who has so far had a mixed start with three victories and five defeats since replacing the experienced Craig Levine at McDiarmid Park.

The Finnish boss has hinted at changes in the transfer window as he looks to mould the team in his image and has even claimed that Aberdeen’s Topi Keskinen was one of the players that he had tried to sign earlier in his managerial career.

Valakari was in charge of Finnish side Kups back in 2021 when he sensationally claims he was blocked the chance to land Keskinen for a fee of £50,000, which is ultimately something that will frustrate him, having seen the winger move to Aberdeen for a reported £800,000 over the summer.

Speaking to Courier Sport, Valakari explained: “It’s a funny story and how football works.

“I was with my team KuPS and the team where Topi played was a local team, Mikkelin Palloilijat, about 50 miles from us.

“He was running out of contract at the end of the season and I said to my owner. Let’s buy this player, we can get the deal.

“He only had six months contract left, we can get him for £50,000. I said I guarantee we could sell him for a minimum half a million in a couple of seasons.

“My owner said: ‘we are not going to spend that kind of money for young players. We’re not going to buy him.’

Valakari went on to compliment the youngsters qualities and said: “He has this raw speed. This X factor. He can use this speed running with the ball, without the ball, score by himself, give crosses, the key passes.

“That speed can hurt the opponent. Since he came to Aberdeen he’s been playing well.”

Keskinen has scored three goals and provided two assists in 13 Premiership appearances for the Dons - the most recent of which came in a 4-1 victory over Dundee at the start of November.

Celtic great claims he would not be welcomed back at Parkhead

Former Celtic striker Charlie Nicholas is often referred to as one of the best Scottish talents of his generation. The 62-year-old scored an incredible 124 goals across two spells at Celtic which were sandwiched between successful stints at Arsenal and Aberdeen.

He lifted two league titles, one League Cup and remains heavily ingrained in the club’s history after winning the Player of the Year award in 1983.

However, despite his achievements, the former Sky Sports pundit claims he is now not welcome back at Celtic Park and adds that wouldn’t even try to walk back through the door of the iconic stadium.

Speaking to William Hill’s The Warm Up, he explained: "I went back to watch Celtic. I have four brother-in-laws, three are season ticket holders at Celtic. And they started saying 'look, we have an occasional ticket if you want to sit in and watch the game with us.

“It's right opposite where the teams come out (north stand).

"Big Ange came up to Celtic and I thought 'I like this', I went back and watched the team a couple of times, I was quite excited about it.

"I haven't really been back since Ange left, although I think they are playing some fabulous football, so I would be tempted.

"I don't attempt to go through the main door, because I am not particularly welcomed.

"I don't know, it's still a touchy relationship between some Celtic fans and me, not from my side.

"Whether it's I've criticised the club at the wrong time and they didn't like it, it's only an opinion guys, it's not personal.

"Predominantly, the older guys, of my generation, enjoy the status that I created at Celtic, I enjoyed it as much as they enjoyed it.

"I am blessed to be part of the Celtic history."