McGeady is keen to get away from the vitriol that he regularly encountered in his native city.

“Moscow is a huge city and it will be possible to have a degree of privacy,” he told the Daily Record.

“Glasgow really is a goldfish bowl and it’s one of the things I’m glad to be getting away from.

“Neil Lennon (Celtic manager) said to me I might miss the adulation Celtic players get but I’m not so sure.

“My view is I need a break from it. I’ve had my experiences of Glasgow and I do need a change.

“There is always someone wanting to have a go at you. I got into a few fights in the past and wish I hadn’t.

“I let my guard down a few times and it cost me.

“But some of the verbal abuse I had to take was really out of order. Because I’m a footballer, people think they are entitled to say what they like and get away with it.

“I’m talking about grown men here. They would shout: ’I hate you’ or ’I’m gonna kill you, wee man’.

“There was also a lot worse but I’m not going to go into that.”

McGeady claimed his decision to play for the Republic of Ireland rather than Scotland also made him a target for abuse from away supporters.

He told The Herald: “There are a lot of horrible places in Scotland for that type of thing: Tynecastle, Ibrox obviously is always going to be bad with the Celtic-Rangers rivalry, Motherwell, Falkirk.

“Some fans there hate everything Celtic stand for and everything I stand for as an Irish Catholic playing for Celtic.

“It begins in the warm-ups before games with all sorts of stuff being shouted at you, even from little kids.”