LIAM MORRISON revealed he thought it was a wind-up when he was told Bayern Munich wanted to sign him.
The 16-year-old centre-half quit Parkhead to agree a three-year deal with the Bundesliga giants at the weekend, as CQN reported.
Even a late offer from the Hoops couldn’t persuade the Ayrshire teenager to remain with the champions as he took the dramatic steps towards a new career with Bayern in Germany.
Morrison, speaking to the Daily Mail, admitted: “It was surprising when I heard. My dad and me were sitting in the living room watching football when a text came from my agent David Moss saying Bayern were interested.
“‘I turned to my dad and said: ‘No way’. We decided not to read anything into it because it might be a daft rumour or something.
“But David contacted Bayern and came back the next day to say: ‘Yeah, they want you to come over and see the campus’.
“It was a dream come true for a club the size of Bayern Munich to be interested in me.”
Also linked with Hoffenheim, Morrison has already started German language lessons and remarked: “Ever since I started playing football as a little kid, it was always my dream to move to a new country and learn a new language.
“Celtic tried hard to keep me, but my decision was already made as soon as Bayern came in.
“‘I loved every minute of my time at Celtic and I have to thank every one of the people I worked with who helped me so much.
“But when the Bayern offer came along, it’s not really a club you can turn down, is it?
“It was such an attractive offer. It was a no-brainer for me and my family.”
Morrison made his Hoops debut in the pre-season tour of Austria and Switzerland when he played in the 6-1 win over SC Pinkafeld in June.
Neil Lennon saw him as one for the future, but the move from old European foes Bayern whisked the teenager away from Parkhead before the club could continue his progress through the ranks.
Coincidentally, Morrison is the second Celtic central defender to take the route to the Bundesliga in recent months.
Belgian international Dedryck Boyata left the Hoops at the end of his contract to join mid-table outfit Hertha Berlin in the summer.
