RUSSIAN international keeper Dmitri Kharine was a surprise arrival at Celtic from Chelsea in the summer of 1999.
The 30-year-old netminder was one of the first signings for the John Barnes/Kenny Dalglish managerial team after catching their eye during his seven years at Stamford Bridge.
Kahrine had suffered a knee injury and had lost his first-team place to Dutch World Cup No.1 Ed de Goey and was keen to reignite his career at Parkhead.
Unfortunately, the shotstopper never properly overcame the problem which limited his appearances in the top side to a total of just 11 games over a three-year period. His longest run was four successive outings in which he lost two goals in consecutive matches against Dundee and Hibs.
BIG NOISE…Dmitri Kharine in one of his 11 appearances for Celtic.
After the sacking of Barnes following the unacceptable Scottish Cup loss to Inverness Caley Thistle and Dalglish’s departure in the summer of 2000, Martin O’Neill took over and Kharine’s career at the Hoops had just one more game to go.
The colourful netminder was allowed a cameo outing in a 5-2 win over Hibs in the league near the end of the treble-winning campaign.
When O’Neill paid £1million to Dundee for future Scotland No.1 Rab Douglas, it signalled the end for Kahrine who was released in summer of 2002.
He left with a total of six shut-outs in his brief outings in front of the Celtic fans.
Kahrine later moved to Hornchurch in the Ryman League Division 1 North and had a memorable debut by being red-carded after a fight with an opponent!
The keeper shares a rare distinction alongside the legendary Real Madrid striker Alfredo di Stefano of representing three nations in his international career.
Di Stefano played for Argentina, Colombia and Spain while Kharine represented USSR, CIS and Russia, a situation that arose during the political turmoil in the country.
As well as playing in the 1994 World Cup and the 1992 and 1996 Euro Championships, the shotstopper won a gold medal with the Soviet Union at the 1988 Summer Olympics.
* TOMORROW: Don’t miss the adventures of another former Celt in CQN’s EXCLUSIVE series.
