Cillian Sheridan

WE'VE BEEN buying their villas and ski holidays for years and now it's our turn to sell something to them, as Celtic's Cillian Sheridan is finally on his way to Bulgaria, writes AIDAN FITZMAURICE.

The Cavan native, capped twice at senior level, will line out for the Irish U21 side against Estonia tonight, the first part of a busy week for the player. After that he will link up with the senior squad for tomorrow's friendly against Argentina and the following day is expected to complete his move to CSKA Sofia.

It's a big move for a player, risky already to leave Celtic without the pressure of becoming the first Irishman to play in Bulgaria, but he says he's happy to take the chance.

"I know there are a few Brazilians playing in the league out there but I think I will be the first man from Ireland," Sheridan told the Herald. "It's funny that myself and Aiden McGeady are both leaving Celtic at the same time and heading to the same part of the world. I spoke to Aiden last week when he was over in Moscow. He's looking forward to that move if it works out and I am looking forward to Sofia.

"It's a risk and a big step. The hardest thing will be settling in. It's a new country, a new culture and a new language but I'm willing to give it a go. Hopefully if the football is going well for me, everything else will fall into place.

"It's got the potential to be a really good move for me. If I can do well I can get to play in Europe and hopefully keep my place in the Ireland squad. It's all agreed, I just have to go over and sign. I'm not sure when that will happen, maybe Thursday or Friday of this week but I expect it to go through.

"They have agreed a fee with Celtic so it's just down to me. But the first thing for me to focus on is the Estonia game with the U21s," he said.

has his transfer gone through. I see on SSN that the cska coach resigned today......

The coach that signed him has been sacked and the Bulgarian players are mutinous because of foreign players ie. Sheridan's high wages. Other than that, they've had a rank start to the season. I hope Cillian knows what he's getting himself into.

t_rAndy wrote: just scored for sofia

 

t_rAndy wrote: just scored for sofia

Aquaro, Nelson and Delev scored according to SkySports.

All 3 goals came after Sheridan came on so he obviously done something right.

houghton88 wrote: From £700 per week to €10k is not bad for a young fella. He wouldnt get that anywhere else.

just read the report of the match there and no mention of Sheridan at all in it (he did come on after 54 mins though) so looks like he wasn't involved directly in any of the goals.

Aiden McGeady was not the only Celtic player to raise eyebrows with a surprise move abroad this summer.

Cillian Sheridan may not have left with a £10m price tag around his neck, but the Irishman’s switch to CSKA Sofia was similarly intriguing.

The forward’s four years in Glasgow were interrupted by loan spells in Motherwell, Plymouth and Perth, so Sofia didn’t feature high on Sheridan’s list of possible destinations when making a permanent exit. Yet, the 21-year-old decided to eschew convention and go for it.

Time will tell whether he has made the right choice, but the early signs are encouraging. As he spoke to Herald Sport, Sheridan was lounging beside his private pool in 35°C heat. The football has been kind too.

Sheridan made his league debut in a 1-0 win over Cherno More on Sunday and will be in Wales tomorrow for the second leg of CSKA’s Europa League play-off tie against TNS. Providing his new club avoid a four-goal defeat, he will be gracing the group stages.

“I got a call at the start of the summer and I was a bit hesitant,” he said. “I didn’t know much about the club or the country but the more I spoke to people, the more I started to like the idea.

“I came over and the club made me really welcome and after that, my mind was made up. I’m settled in a flat and the city looks really good. The only big problem is the alphabet.

“I had a chat with Aiden before we both left and he texted me on Monday asking how I was getting on. He made a big move but he feels he’s made the right decision and I think he’ll do really well over there.”

Sheridan knows all about huge decisions. Aged 17, he was faced with the biggest dilemma of his life. A precocious Gaelic footballer, he was offered the chance to join Australian Rules team Brisbane Lions but instead opted for a deal at Celtic. He remains convinced it was the right choice.

He said: “I’ve never regretted it for one second and I never will. It was an unbelievable experience and it’s a period of my career that will always stay with me.

“Starting against Man United at Celtic Park and playing against the likes of Rio Ferdinand was a dream for me. I made a lot of good friends and when I look back I’ll only have good memories of my time at the club.

“It was hard to leave but it didn’t look like I was going to feature regularly so I had to make the decision. I need to move on and play first-team football and hopefully I’ll be able to do that with CSKA.”

Given that the coach who signed him, Pavel Dochev, left CSKA 24 hours after Sheridan’s arrival, the Republic of Ireland internationalist could have been forgiven for wondering what he’d let himself in for, but Gjore Jovanovski’s appointment as the new head coach has been well-received.

“We beat TNS in the Europa League last week and we’ve got the return in Wales,” he said. “Hopefully we can get through and then you never know what could happen in the group stages – we might even get Celtic.”