Oliver Giroud's move to Celtic collapsed in the final moments – after Montpellier's chairman slagged Kilmarnock to the World Cup winner.
Tony Mowbray's faltering side were close to closing a deal for Giroud when the Tours striker had ripped up Ligue 2's scoring charts aged 23.
And a move to Parkhead looked likely as the now AC Milan forward was wowed by tales of the club's history and famous atmosphere.
But then La Paillade chair Louis Nicollin rang up Giroud to pitch his club's case – and a hilarious mispronunciation of the Rugby Park club ended up swaying the Frenchman's decision.
Giroud would then become a Montpellier legend as his goals fired the club to the French title before he'd seal a move to Arsenal.
And writing in his autobiography, Giroud said: "I felt invincible that season. I scored 23 goals in 40 games and was the top goalscorer. I won the Ligue 2 Player of the Year trophy and my salary increased to €15,000 per month.
"The phone started ringing and several clubs were interested in me. Montpellier and Monaco, but also Celtic and Middlesbrough. My agents were working flat out to get me the best contract at the best club.
"My preference is Celtic and their legendary stadium, with its 60,000 capacity, is the stuff of dreams. I could already see myself there. Strategically, this club would be a great springboard to realise my ambition to eventually play in the Premier League.
"But in the meantime, my agents Alain and Guillaume come up with the idea of approaching Louis Nicollin, the now much-missed chairman of Montpellier. They advised me to take his call and told me, ‘You are free to decide which club you want to play for, but you should listen to what he has to say’.
"Flattered that this legend of French football wants to speak to me, I agree. Listening to him, I realise how much this club wants me. Straight off, he says ‘What are you going to do in Scotland in KILCHMARCHNOCK!’
"Mentioning the town of Kilmarnock is a slightly round-about way of bad-mouthing the whole Scottish championship. The chairman is desperate to persuade me not to sign for Celtic, who at this point are top of my list.
"He said, ‘Come to us, you’ll be all right — you’ll be happy’. He explains his club’s strategic plan in great detail. His star striker has left and Nicollin assures me I will be No 1.
"I’m becoming more and more tempted by his offer. I ended the call asking if I can think about it for a little while, but I already know my future lies with this club.
"After talking to Montpellier, my agents came to see me with the financial offers from various clubs who are interested, including Celtic and Middlesbrough. They were offering twice as much as Montpellier. At no point do Alain and Guillaume use this as an argument to try and persuade me to move abroad.
"Quite the opposite, in fact. They say, ‘Would you not like to leave your mark on Ligue 1 before you head overseas?’. It’s a good argument and I signed for Montpellier for three years."
