Alex Rae convinced me to reject Celtic as a teenager – then my career exploded in the Premier League

It's not often a footballer rejects a life-changing move to Celtic in favour of playing in Scotland's second tier. In fact, it's almost unheard of.

But that's exactly what Kevin McDonald did in 2006 after Gordon Strachan failed to lure the up-and-coming midfielder to Parkhead. Celtic had come to the table with a £75k bid for the highly-rated teenager, but after it was thrown out by First Division Dundee, McDonald publicly declared his wish to remain at Dens Park. He said at the time: "It's very flattering for me that Celtic are interested. But, at my age, I think I should be staying with Dundee and hopefully I will be getting more good experience. Maybe in the future I can move on."

It was a bold move from the 17-year-old. Rather than risk fading away in Celtic's reserves and youth teams, McDonald resisted the temptation of a mega pay rise to continue playing first-team football at the Dees. With Rangers and Tottenham Hotspur also lurking, McDonald was hot property. Almost two decades later, the now 36-year-old has no regrets.

In an exclusive interview with Record Sport, courtesy of Sky Bet, he said: "Dundee gave me my first chance in professional football, and while it might sound cliché, I’ll always be grateful for that. They showed faith in me and rewarded me with a new contract, which meant a lot at the time. My only focus then was to stay, learn as much as I could, and develop as a player.

"I always knew I’d move on eventually, but I did it at the right time. Loyalty in football can be limited these days, to say the least, but after speaking with my family and my agent, staying was the right decision. In the end, it was actually quite an easy one to make."

Boss Alex Rae also had a major role to play in keeping