Lustig looks to fulfil his Bhoyhood dreams

CELTIC new boy Mikael Lustig revealed he caught the Parkhead bug by watching fellow countryman Henrik Larsson play in the hoops.

The Sweden defender, 25, will officially become a Celtic player tomorrow after his transfer to the Clydesdale Bank Premier League leaders was completed today.

Lustig, who agreed a three-and-a-half-year contract in November after leaving Norwegian side Rosenborg, almost inevitably referenced legend Larsson, who starred at the Parkhead club between 1997 and 2004.

“Henrik Larsson put Celtic on the map in Sweden,” said the right-back.

“I watched many Celtic games when he played here and Celtic have many fans cheering for them in Sweden.

“I haven’t spoken to him but he has spoken a lot about the club and Glasgow.

“I have known about this for two months. I always thought it was a great club for me and I have been waiting for this moment, so now I am here, it is perfect.”

Lustig will become Celtic’s fourth international right-back with Wales’ Adam Matthews and Cha Du-ri of South Korea battling for the position at the moment and Scotland cap Mark Wilson ready to start back in full training next week following knee surgery.

The lanky defender, while not ready for the SPL clash with Dunfermline at Easter Road on Monday, declared himself up for the challenge.

He said: “I hope it is going to be hard, that will mean we have good players here.”

Hoops assistant manager Johan Mjallby, a fellow Swede, insists none of the club’s right-backs will need to be sold to accommodate Lustig.

“Definitely not,” he said.

“We want to keep hold of all the players we have in the squad. It is brilliant that we (already) have at least three very good right-backs.”

“He sees himself as a right-back and that is where we see him. We like to have competition in the team and he can’t just expect to slide straight into the team, he needs to fight for his place and that’s the way we like it. He likes to go forward which is suitable for how we like to play.”

Celtic have suffered a blow with the news that midfielder Beram Kayal will be out for at least a month with the ankle injury sustained in Wednesday’s Old Firm match. The Israel international was carried off on a stretcher following a challenge with Lee McCulloch near the end of the 1-0 win over Rangers, which sent them top of the SPL.

Meanwhile Rangers manager Ally McCoist will hold talks with owner Craig Whyte in the next few days to determine whether he will be able to strengthen his squad in January. McCoist has identified a couple of targets he is keen to bring to Ibrox next month, with attacking reinforcements top of the list as he bids to steer the Scottish champions’ title charge back on track.

And, as Rangers head into the new year trailing rivals Celtic by two points, the Light Blues boss is keen to establish what sort of transfer kitty will be available to him.

McCoist said: “Our scouting department have been very busy and I’m in almost constant dialogue with the boys.

“We’ve got one or two players, in an ideal world, we would like to bring in. We just have to wait and see what happens. We’re ready to go if we can go.”