Vidar Riseth has revealed how his wife inexplicably blew the lid on his 'secret' deal with Celtic back in 1998.

The Norwegian signed for the Hoops in September 1998 for £1.5million from LASK Linz after impressing against Scotland and Brazil during that summer's World Cup in France.

The 51-times capped Norway international was former Parkhead manager Dr Jo Venglos's first capture for the club.

He admits that there was a real cloak-and-dagger operation mounted by Celtic at the time to smuggle the player into Glasgow without the media getting a whiff of the transfer.

However, all bets were off when a newspaper phoned Riseth's house and his wife unwittingly blurted out his whereabouts.

Celtic Way:

"We had a good squad in the national team and we played against Scotland," said Riseth, who scored the opening goal in the 2-0 League Cup final win over Aberdeen in 2000.

"I knew the club were watching me and running the rule over me and I played a good game against Scotland and Brazil. They also watched me play for LASK Linz and I knew of their interest.

"I spoke with my agent and I said I wanted to sign for Celtic. I had a few other options but the team I wanted to play for was them and I was really happy when they contacted me and signed me up.

"When clubs are interested in you there is a rule that you don't talk too much to the press as you want to keep things quiet and keep it on the down low so you can finish the deal.

"The last person I told that I was going to Glasgow on this day was my wife... she was out and travelling and I sent her a text saying I was going to Glasgow to do the medical and sign for Celtic.

"I told everybody around me not to tell anybody where I was going and we had hatched a plan that I would fly to Glasgow and sign for Celtic.

"I told her I would see her the next day but then a newspaper phoned up and asked to speak to me and she said 'Vidar's not here, he's in Glasgow...'.

"It was a funny story as I guess everybody knew then that I was signing for Celtic after all."

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