• Born: 04/04/1986


• Birthplace: Denny, Scotland


• Nationality: Scottish / Irish ancestory

Winger Aiden McGeady became Roberto Martinez's first signing of the January transfer window in 2014, moving to Goodison Park from Russian outfit Spartak Moscow.

The Republic of Ireland international arrived for an undisclosed fee and penned a four-and-a-half-year deal.

Born in Denny, Scotland, McGeady began his career with Queen's Park but moved to Celtic in 2001 while still in his early teens.

He subsequently spent four years in the academy at Parkhead, winning the Scottish FA Youth Cup in 2003, before making a goalscoring first-team debut against Hearts in April of the following year, aged just 18.

The following campaign he was selected for a Champions League match against Italian giants AC Milan and it signalled his emergence as a regular fixture in the Celtic side.

A persistent knee problem temporarily curtailed his progress, but he was soon back in the first-team frame and went on to notch 37 goals in 251 appearances for the Hoops before becoming Scottish football's then-most expensive ever export in joining Spartak for £9.5million in August 2010.

In his six years at Celtic he was named the club's Young Player of the Year three times and won four Scottish Premier League titles, two Scottish League Cups and two Scottish Cups. He was also voted Scotland's best player by his fellow professionals in 2008, picking up the SPFA's Players' Player of the Year prize.

Aiden's debut for his new side came in a 2-1 win against Saturn in early September 2010 and the same month he notched his first goal in a 2-2 draw at home against FC Amkar Perm.

Such was his impressive start to life at the Lokomotiv Stadium, Aiden was named in a list of the Russian Premier League's 33 best players by the country's Football Union, their equivalent of the FA.

In his second season he was part of a Spartak title charge, one which ended in the club finishing runners-up to Zenit St Petersburg.

His final league appearance for Narodnaya komanda (The People's Team) would come in the Moscow derby against CSKA in November 2013 before speculation of a switch to the Blue half of Merseyside began to gather pace.

Internationally, Aiden represented Scotland Schools as a teenager but qualified to play for the Republic through his grandparents and switched his allegiance when called up by the Under-15s.

Aiden McGeady had actually turned out for Scotland at youth level, but was unable to represent them further after he signed for Celtic. The club forbade any young player from turning out for their school side while the SFA at the time refused to select players who weren't affiliated to a schools team.

Due to this impasse McGeady believed he would just concentrate on his club career until he was older but a phone call from ex Celtic goalkeeper Pat Bonner inviting him to an Irish youths get together changed all that.

The Glaswegian impressed and was invited back again, eventually becoming involved with the Irish set up at 15s, 16s and 17s level. By the time he'd broken into the Celtic first team he was already familiar with the Irish set up and happy to commit his future to them, despite previously representing Scotland.

He has since gone on to amass over 60 senior caps for the nation and was part of the squad which qualified for the European Championships in 2012. He is an international teammate of Everton stars Seamus Coleman, James McCarthy and Darron Gibson.

After being announced and unveiled as a Blues player at half-time of the 2-0 win over Norwich City in January 2014, McGeady made his debut a week later by coming off the bench at West Brom.

Aiden joined Sheffield Wednesday on loan on 31st January 2016 for the remainder of the 2015-16 season.

On 31st August 2016, Aiden McGeady completed a season-long loan deal to Preston North End.

Aiden agreed a 2 year deal to join Sunderland on 13th July 2017.

Good luck to Aiden from all at Love Everton Forum.

Source: Evertonfc.com