CALLUM MCGREGOR has spoken about his career as he turns 27. The omnipresent midfielder has been a mainstay for the Scottish Champions through the last six years transforming from a young starlet to a seasoned pro at the heart of the Celtic team. McGregor believes that he is ‘lucky’ to have enjoyed the career that he has but the truth is, it has been due to his tenacity and talent that he has become a truly exceptional player.
Speaking to Celtic TV McGregor discussed his birthday celebrations this year as he returns to training whilst acknowledging that he and James Forrest have developed from young players with their futures ahead of them to being seasoned pros in the dressing room – with an impressive haul of medals too.
“Normally I’m pretty much off for the off-season for my birthday, so it’s fallen quite nicely that I’m off this time as well.
“We were talking about it this week – Jamesy’s turning 29 in a few weeks’ time and I’m turning 27. It wasn’t too long ago that we were the younger guys in the squad, so it just shows you that time and your career just flies so quickly, and you need to enjoy every minute of it, which I’m sure that we’ve done.
“Things have relaxed slightly, so it’ll be good to see my family and celebrate a little bit, but now that the football’s back on, I’m already starting to think about the season. But it’ll be a nice day, a nice afternoon and hopefully we’ll have a bit of good weather too.”
McGregor has already been earmarked as Scott Brown’s replacement as Celtic captain but the midfielder feels that he is incredibly lucky to have the career that he has enjoyed so far. Starting out in 2014 under Ronny Deila, McGregor proved himself to be one of the top operators in Scottish football and has since played 275 times for Celtic, racking up numerous trophies on the way. However, McGregor is keen to continue to add to the latter count with further success next season.
“I feel that I’ve progressed well in my career from my early days into where I am now,” he said. “To be sitting here with a lot of trophies and nearly 300 appearances for Celtic – as a young kid when you’re coming through the Academy, you dream of making a first-team appearance.
“So to be so lucky and fortunate to make nearly 300 appearances, and hopefully many more, then I think myself very, very lucky and it’s something that I can cherish.”
