Former Celtic player, Mark Fotheringham has been outlining his thoughts on Celtic Captain Callum McGregor, revealing amongst other things that there has been interest in McGregor from the Bundesliga.
Back in May of 2000, during a 0-0 draw with St Johnstone, Fotheringham became the youngest ever player to date to make a first team appearance for Celtic. Once hailed as potentially world class, his career never transpired as anticipated and he ended up being a bit of a journeyman, never really settling at a club longer than a year or two.
Having played in Germany for SC Freiburg and coached there also with Karlsruher SC and FC Ingolstadt, Fotheringham is someone with a keen interest in the German game. He also knows of Callum McGregor’s capabilities first hand as the two actually played together while the current Celtic captain was on loan at Notts County during the 2013/14 season.
Photo: imago/HochZwei/International
Notts County’s Callum McGregor during the Football League Cup 2nd Round match at Anfield.
,“Callum’s a massively important player for Celtic. Bayer will be delighted if he’s not involved on Thursday night. Clubs in Germany are well aware of Callum,” Fotheringham told Scottish Sun.
“I know Hertha Berlin were very keen on him at one stage,” the former Celt stated.
“I’m very concerned for Celtic without Callum. Him being out has highlighted how important he is to everything. They lack that football brain on the pitch. He’s a coach on the pitch. The manager can get messages to him and he’ll relay it to the rest of the players.
Photo: imago/HochZwei/International
“When I was a kid, Paul McStay was my big hero. The Maestro. Now I see Callum the same way. He’s the new Maestro. In 20 years from now there will be supporters talking about him the same as fans currently talk about McStay. But as far as I’m concerned, Callum’s the same for Celtic.”
Paul McStay in action for Celtic.
I can’t argue with much that Mark Fotheringham has said here. Over the last few games it’s blatantly obvious to see how much Celtic miss Callum McGregor when he’s out of the team. It would be sensational to have him back for tomorrow night against tough opposition when Bayer Leverkusen roll into town. On the other hand, as much as we would all love to see him back as soon as possible it’s also risky to rush him back and end up potentially losing him for longer in such an important season.
Conall McGinty
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