It is a brave man who turns his back on Diego Simeone – but new Raith Rovers goalkeeper Josh Rae can lay claim to have done just that at the tender age of 13.
The sliding doors moment of Rae’s career came when he was one of the most wanted young footballers in Britain – and Spain’s capital – a dozen years ago.
Rae signed for his boyhood heroes Celtic in March 2014 following trials with Liverpool and Everton and shortly after becoming Hamilton U20s youngest ever debutant.
Yet the Lanarkshire lad only arrived at that conclusion after considerable persuasion to sign for Atletico Madrid – from none other than coach Simeone.
So precocious was Rae as a keeper – already 6ft 1in – that he was spotted by Atletico playing in a holiday tournament and invited to trials.
Then only 12, Rae went on the trip of a lifetime to Madrid where he found himself on the receiving end of praise from idol Thibaut Courtois, then on loan from Chelsea.
Superstar compliments
Rae explained: “I was in Spain, just down at a local park, kicking the ball about with my dad.
“A woman from a team in Jordan asked me to play in some tournament for them.
“An Atletico Madrid scout went up to the coach and my dad afterwards and asked if I would go over and train with them for two weeks.
“I can’t really remember who I was training with at Atletico for those couple of weeks.
“But I met the manager and Courtois when he was there. He came in when I was having my lunch and sat and had lunch with me.
“It was all an experience and one I look back on now and think it was just amazing.
“Courtois was complimenting me! I’m just sat there staring up at him and thinking: Is this actually who it is??
“He didn’t have to come in and speak to me because I’m just a 12-year-old boy who’s over training.
“But he spent 15, 20 minutes sitting speaking to me and that was brilliant.
“Diego Simeone came in too, 10 minutes after him and spoke to me.
“My dad was there as well, we were both sat there with our mouths open, wondering if this was all really happening.
“After that, they wanted me to keep going over every so often then, when I was 16, move over there permanently.”
Lure of Celtic
However, Rae was not short on admirers and the few months after his Madrid stint saw English big guns make their move before Celtic’s successful swoop.
It does sound like a crazy decision now not to further explore the opportunity abroad.
Rae can only guess how differently his career would have panned out for developing his skills in Spain.
Yet Celtic’s sales pitch tugged at the emotions of the Croy-born kid.
Rae, now 24, recalled: “Hamilton were great with me. They were pushing me to go out and train with these teams because it’s good for them as well.
“I went down to Liverpool and Everton. Those were great opportunities and experiences.
“But then the Celtic opportunity came up and that was it kind of done. I decided to go there.
“It was probably my heart that took me to Celtic. Maybe it wasn’t the right thing to do at the time, but you can’t do anything about the past.
“You’ve just got to look forward. I feel that everything happens for a reason, though.
“And I feel I’ve done quite well for what I’ve been through and where I’ve been.”
‘Nice people’
Rae also featured for Leeds United at youth level before playing for Edinburgh City, Peterhead and Queen Of The South.
He impressed in Airdrie’s surprise promotion bid of 2023/24 to earn an ill-fated move to St Johnstone.
Minus the guidance of a dedicated goalkeeping coach for multiple pre-season weeks, however, his Perth stay got off to a rough start and never recovered.
Rae impressed on a loan in Kirkcaldy in the second half of the campaign, earning seven clean sheets in his first 10 outings.
Surplus to Simo Valakari’s requirements, he returned to Rovers last week on a two-year contract.
As his career journey continues, there will be continued interest from Spain and Rae admits he will always retain a fondness for Atletico Madrid.
He revealed: “My mum still keeps in contact with the scout and his wife, who took me over there.
“They message all the time and watch my games. Whenever they visit Scotland, they come and see us. They are really nice people.
“Although it was 12 years ago, I do still watch Atletico Madrid and I kind of hope that they do well. They’re my Spanish team now!”
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