Jeffrey Schlupp was instantly mesmerized by the electric atmosphere at Parkhead when he visited with Leicester City back in July 2016.
Now, almost a decade later, he’s overjoyed to make his return—this time, proudly donning Celtic’s iconic green and white hoops.
On that previous occasion, Schlupp’s Leicester narrowly defeated Celtic in a penalty shootout following a 1-1 draw in the now-discontinued International Champions Cup.
The versatile 32-year-old, who secured a short-term loan move to Celtic on deadline day, confesses that playing for the Scottish Premiership giants has always been a lifelong aspiration.
In his first interview since joining the club, the former Premier League champion shared: “I’m super excited. It’s actually been one of my dreams, as much as many others, to play for such a great club like Celtic.
“I had the pleasure of playing here probably about ten years ago in a pre-season match, so I’ve actually been to the stadium before and obviously the atmosphere and everything about it was something exciting.
“So as soon as the opportunity came up, I was really excited about it.
“Everyone always speaks about the experience of playing at Celtic, the atmosphere, the fans and the stadium as you’re driving up to it. It’s one of those things that everyone always wants to do.”
When describing his playing style to Celtic TV, Schlupp added: “Throughout my career I think I’ve played everywhere apart from goalkeeper to be honest. But for the main part, I’ve been left-sided, whether that’s left-midfield, the left side of midfield three, I’ve played in a pivot before, and obviously I’ve had a lot of games played at left-back as well.
“Anywhere along the left I’ve always found really comfortable. I’ve played many games at left-back and in a front three on the left-side and right-side. I’m comfortable playing anywhere, so just wherever the manager would like me to play I’ll do that and hopefully I can do a great job for the team.”
