I played just 51 minutes for Celtic after starring for Juventus & France but walked out on them after a ‘deep injustice’
HE arrived at Celtic with several France caps to his name, experience at the top with Juventus and three years of Premier League football under his belt.
But just two months later, he was out the Parkhead door under a cloud of controversy.
It was in November 2010 when Celtic snapped up Olivier Kapo on a free transfer.
The then 30-year old was without a club having left English Premier League outfit Wigan Athletic three months previously.
Kapo arrived at the Hoops with some incredible experience under his belt.
Breaking through at Auxerre in 1999 - who were then one of the top teams in French football - Kapo went on to make more than 150 appearances in all competitions for the club including several in the Champions League.
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Kapo's excellent form with Auxerre led to international honours and he earned nine France caps between 2002 and 2004.
He was part of the squad that won the 2003 Confederations Cup, playing alongside the likes of Thierry Henry and Robert Pires.
His stock was high and he earned a move to Juventus in the summer of 2004.
But he struggled to unseat the legendary Pavel Nedved in Turin although he did make 19 appearances in his first campaign.
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Kapo earned a Serie A winners' medal that season but Juve were stripped of the title as part of the infamous Calciopoli scandal that rocked Italian football.
With Juventus dumped to the second tier, loan spells with Monaco and Levante followed for Kapo who then moved to the top tier in England with Birmingham City in 2007 in a £3million move.
A year later, his Blues boss Steve Bruce signed him once again at Wigan in a £3.5m deal.
Kapo spent two years with the Latics before being released in August 2010 after falling out of favour.
Having been without a club for a few months, he was snapped up by Neil Lennon's Celtic.
At the time, it was somewhat unclear as to the exact details of Kapo's contract.
It appeared to be a short-term deal with Celtic having the option to extend should he impress.
There were also, however, reports that it was an 18-month deal.
This would become important regarding his eventual departure from the club.
In the end, Kapo's spell at Parkhead was a brief and unsuccessful one.
He didn't make his debut until Boxing Day, getting the final 13 minutes in a 2-0 win over St Johnstone.
Kapo then started the following game, a 1-0 triumph over Motherwell, but was forced-off injured after only 38 minutes.
Those ended up being his only two appearances for the Hoops, with a grand total of just 51 minutes of action.
Just three weeks after the Well match, Kapo was out the door.
His departure was a controversial one, with Celtic and Kapo himself at odds over the exact reasoning.
Celtic boss Neil Lennon said that Kapo simply hadn't done enough to warrant a long term agreement - but that a short term offer had been made to the player.
Lennon claimed that offer was rejected.
He said in January 2011: "These are the facts. Olivier Kapo signed a contract with the club which allowed us to terminate on January 10, 2011.
"Celtic took this option to terminate as we felt he had not done enough to justify a longer-term contract.
"We were willing to look at an extension to this short term contract with Olivier. However, he was not willing to accept these terms."
Kapo certainly didn't see things that way and came out swinging.
And he even accused Celtic of a "deep injustice."
Kapo contradicted the Hoops' claim that his contract had been terminated, insisting that he himself had walked out on the club.
He accused Celtic of reneging on the terms of his deal and claimed his agreement had been a contract running until 2012 - although he did note a "probationary period" as part of the agreement.
Kapo acknowledged that boss Lennon had wanted to keep him around and instead hit out a club chiefs over the situation.
The player blasted: “I wanted to inform of my decision to leave Celtic. This has not been done on a whim and I feel the need to explain why, in all transparency.
“On November 4, 2010, when I signed with the club, I was holding a contract that bound me until 2012 with a probationary period of three months.
“During the probation I required no pay. My sole concern was to recover my pleasure of playing.
“The coach, Neil Lennon, saluted my benefits and my contribution within the group and a moral commitment was then made by the management of the club.
“I expected my trial period would be converted, as expected, in a contract of one-and-a-half years and I was looking for an apartment for my family to join me and a school for my children.
“My future was with Celtic but on January 11 came a twist.
“The executive management called me and told me there would be an alteration of my contract with my salary divided by three from the original contract and that it would expire in June 2011.
“The official position was motivated by my lack of experience because we had four consecutive games postponed due to weather and I was also out for two weeks with a thigh injury, from which I am fully recovered.
“I feel a deep injustice because the coaching staff wanted to keep me. Therefore, despite the insistence of Neil and his technical staff, I did not want to stay any longer in a situation where obviously a young coach is not able to impose his choice of executive direction and
financial management.
“I cannot and I do not want to be seen simply as a variable accounting adjustment.”
Just weeks after his Celtic exit, Kapo had a brief spell in Qatar with Al-Ahly.
The following year, he made an emotional return to his first club Auxerre where he spent a year-and-a-half.
Kapo finished his career with Greek club Levadiakos and Polish outfit Korona Kielce.
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He caused a stir at the end of his time in Greece by alleging that "everything is corrupted in Greek football" and that it was "mafia-controlled."
Kapo's contract in Poland expired after just a year and that brought an end to his football career.
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