Rafael Scheidt

Who is Rafael Scheidt?

Rafael Felipe Scheidt is a Brazilian footballer. He was signed by the John Barnes/Kenny Dalglish management of Celtic from Grêmio for £5m and failed to make an impact. Plagued by injury and finding it hard to settle he started one game in the 1999-00 in Scottish football against St Johnstone and was let out on loan to Corinthians by new manager Martin O'Neill after just three appearances. Indeed, Scheidt later admitted that following an umimpressive showing in a pre-season friendly O'Neill had told him "I like footballers who are not like you", further adding "I like footballers who play well." The Guardian newspaper called Scheidt the second worst transfer in the history of soccer in an article published in 2001.

Scheidt's loan spell at Corinthians came to an end in 2002, and he maintained his hope of making it at Celtic, informing the Sunday Herald that "I want this year to be known as the Scheidt year". However, he no longer met UK work permit requirements and Celtic paid off the remainder of his contract. He then returned to Brazil, joining Atlético Mineiro. A year later he signed for Botafogo, before being releaed by them in 2006.