The unseen role of John McGinn & ex-Celtic star in Viljami Sinisalo transfer as insider lifts lid on swoop for Hoops ace
THE manager who first brought Viljami Sinisalo to Scottish football has revealed how Willo Flood and John McGinn made the move happen.
Keeper Sinisalo joined Celtic in a £1million deal last summer but had to wait until Saturday for his Scottish Premiership debut in the 3-0 win over Hearts.
Not many Hoops punters will have been familiar with the Finn when, aged just 18 in September 2020, he was signed by then Ayr United boss Mark Kerr on a season-long loan from Aston Villa.
Kerr, now assistant manager to Charlie Mulgrew at Kelty Hearts, said: “It was down to Willo Flood that we got Vil.
“He was working as an agent and was great at getting players moving on loans.
“He told me about Vil and how he was third-choice at Villa but they wanted him out playing.
“I rang John McGinn and asked him what he was like. John said he trained with their first team most days and was a very decent keeper.
“I got in touch and Villa actually let him come up on trial for a couple of days.
“Our goalie coach was Derek Stillie and we’d already had a couple of lads in from down south with a view to them coming in on loan.
“But after 40 minutes working with him, Stills came in and said, ‘He’s the one, get him!’.
“Vil was athletic and agile even then, though he’s obviously filled out a bit in the years since.
“He’d been training with the Villa first team, so he had a wee bit of confidence about him.
“And because the budget at Ayr was tight, Villa let us have him for free, which appealed to the club even more!
“In fairness, the owner, David Smith, put Vil in a nice wee flat in Troon, so he was well looked after.
“He settled in quickly and quite enjoyed the experience of being at a club where he was playing in the first team.
“In that time he was with us, there was a bit of talk about Celtic keeping an eye on him.
“It’s funny that he’s now ended up there.”
Sinisalo made his Honest Men debut at Albion Rovers.
And Kerr admits getting his first taste of top-team football was a challenge in a Covid-disrupted season.
He said: “Some players come up from England and are a bit judgmental about Scotland, but you could tell he was really pleased to be at the club.
Sinisalo's career so far
2017-18 FC Espoo
2018-24 Aston Villa
2020-21 Ayr United (loan)
2022 Burton Albion (loan)
2023-24 Exeter City (loan)
2024- Celtic
“That Covid season was the hardest I’ve ever been involved in during all my years in football.
“We were training at Cumnock Juniors’ ground every morning and only seeing the ground when we went there to play.
“Even then we had to get changed in the street.
“Vil played a big part for us that season.
“He missed a couple of games through injury, but other than that he played pretty much every week.
“He’s a really nice boy and I’m delighted that he’s going to get a run in the Celtic team.
“It’s a great opportunity for him, between the league run-in and the possibility of a Scottish Cup final appearance.”
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