Celtic have had a number of great players at Parkhead over the years. It is always difficult adjusting to the Scottish game though, even for the best of players. And it looks like one club hero almost ended up quitting after his first six months in the Hoops, as he was struggling to get things off the ground.
That player is none other than Mikael Lustig, who would go on to enjoy a brilliant career at Celtic, which lasted seven-and-a-half years, before he ended up moving away in 2019.
Lustig is set to pull on the Hoops once again this weekend, as he will be part of a Celtic legends team that will take on a Liverpool legends team at Anfield in a charity match. And it is safe to say that it will be great to see so many legends playing in the club colours once again after such a long time.
As reported by the club’s official website, Lustig revealed about his difficult start to life at Parkhead while speaking to the Celtic View Podcast and how Neil Lennon and the staff stopped him from leaving:
"“I signed in 2011 in November but I had to wait until the January window to come.“The season with Rosenborg had finished in November and I felt like I needed a month off, but if I were to go back then I would go to Glasgow right away to train for a month with the team.“I took a couple of weeks off and I thought I would go in and they would build me up, but I went straight into training and there were better players and the tempo was higher, so my first half of a year was not good.“When I came back in the summer, Sevilla asked if they could buy or loan me and I felt my start here wasn’t the best so I thought maybe I should go.“I’m happy Neil Lennon and the staff said they wanted me and then I started to kick on in my Celtic career.”"
Celtic hero reveals he almost left the club after six months
It is great that Lustig stayed on because after a difficult start, he would eventually find his feet at Parkhead and went on to be a key part of the team for the next seven seasons. He even became vice-captain of the club.
Lustig would eventually leave Celtic in order to join Belgian side, Gent. The defender would return to Sweden in 2020 in order to play for AIK before hanging up his boots in 2022.
Lustig represented six different clubs during the course of his career but he will always be best remembered for the successes that he achieved in a Celtic shirt. It is fortunate that he did not end up bringing an end to that journey after the first six months.