Glasgow Celtic is the perfect next stop for the Seamus Coleman express

Heimir’s confirmation that legend plays on is good news for all

There’s been a lot of interest and indeed quite a bit of noise around the Ireland squad named on Sunday for the end of season friendlies at home to Qatar and away to Canada, the games that will bring the curtain down on a season of World Cup disappointment for Ireland.

The inclusion of four League of Ireland players by Heimir Hallgrimsson is no more than our domestic game deserves so let’s applaud the fact that Dawson Devoy, Adam Brennan, Ed McGinty and Conor Brann all feature with Victor Ozhianvuna set for under 21 duty. As Heimir wants LOI games postponed to facilitate those call-ups, then call them off!

Fresh from Saturday’s success against Grenada in Murcia and the arrival of Jack Moylan on the international stage, first call-ups for Jaden Umeh, Corrie Ndaba, Alex Murphy, Alex Gilbert and Mason Melia - in particular Mason - will excite fans looking for another boost post Prague.

Young players will always bring excitement but there’s one old name in particular in this squad who has made more than one headline since the squad was released on X, one player whose arrival in Dublin next week is to be applauded.

That player is Seamus Coleman, the Donegal legend who appeared in his final home game as an Everton player on Sunday after announcing during the week that his time is over as the greatest bargain ever secured by the Toffees.

As Henry Winter pointed out on his own social media feeds, Coleman’s £60,000 fee when he arrived from Sligo Rovers in 2009 has amounted to a cost of £138.56 per game of the 433 appearances he made before Sunderland spoiled his farewell party on Sunday.

Stop for a second and take that in. In transfer fee terms alone, Everton’s outlay for one of their greatest ever players worked out at about €157 per appearance. I’ve not been to the new Hill Dickinson Stadium yet but I’d guess there’s tickets that cost more per game than that.

Seamus may or may not feature against Spurs in North London next Sunday so at most he has one game left in an Everton shirt.

There’s been nothing, thankfully, to suggest however that his playing career is ending alongside his time on the blue side of Liverpool. In his farewell to the Everton fans last week, the Killybegs man confirmed he has turned down a backroom role at the club which suggests he fancies playing on.

Heimir confirmed as much to the few Irish journalists who went to Murcia for that friendly on Saturday. That is the best news of the weekend - that Seamus Coleman wants to stay around the Irish team.

Why he has left out of it in the first place is still a mystery - Coleman’s return to the squad last autumn after over a year out, not all of it through injury, coincided with the run of form that earned Heimir a new contract and re-ignited the World Cup dream.

Like Stephen Kenny before him, Hallgrimsson discovered that any Irish squad is better with Seamus Coleman in the building, even if he doesn’t start on the pitch.

Hence the welcome for the confirmation that his inclusion in the Ireland squad for the end of season games in Dublin and Montreal is hugely significant and signposts his desire to play as long as his body will let him.

Several players have an asterisk against their name in the squad which means they are in for one game or the other but not both - like goalkeepers Caoimhin Kelleher and Mark Travers.

There was no asterisk against Seamus Coleman’s name. If he was to say goodbye to his international career now then the Qatar match would have been the perfect farewell to Seamus and would actually have sold some seats for an otherwise meaningless fixture.

So the good news is that Seamus will go to Canada and, according to Heimir, will continue to play at the highest level open to him next season, for club and country.

What club? I’ve no idea. But he would be perfect for one club as it looks to transition to a new future and build bridges between supporters and the hierarchy that not even their most dramatic title win will rebuild.

That club is Glasgow Celtic. Coleman is made for them for so many reasons including his Donegal and Irish heritage but more than anything he is made for Celtic because he is a natural born leader who will make any football club or team better for his involvement.

If Martin O’Neill stays on or if Robbie Keane takes over at Parkhead, their friend Seamus should be top of their wishlist.