“I want to play,” Celtic’s £3m summer signing star makes game time admission

Gustaf Lagerbielke has admitted that he wants to play as the central defender finds himself on the fringes of Brendan Rodgers’ first team. The Swedish Internationalist was on the bench at the weekend for the win over Livingston in the Scottish Cup as Rodgers’ team conceded two soft goals against David Martindale’s team.

Lagerbielke was signed for Celtic after being recommended to the club by Carl Starfelt’s agent, who switched to La Liga to join Celta Vigo. The £3m switch was expected to be a replacement for his compatriot, with Maik Nawrocki also arriving in the summer. However, the move has not turned out as expected with the Swedish central defender making just nine appearances as well as scoring one goal – the win against Feyenoord in the UCL.

Despite this, the defender is keen to make an impact in the final stretch of the season as Celtic look to win the League and Scottish Cup Double. Speaking to Aftonbladet, Lagerbielke insisted that he needs to keep showing Rodgers that he can play but will look at his future in the summer.

“So right now the focus is on training as well as possible and continuing to show that I’m going to play. We can still win the double, as we are fighting with Rangers for the league title and are still in the cup as well.

“So there are two titles to play for. I want to play and will do everything in my power to help the team. At the same time, I know that I can play in the best leagues, so it’s a situation we will look at after the season.”

With Maik Nawrocki out injured and CCV’s injury being managed, Rodgers partnered Liam Scales with Stephen Welsh at the back; however, the pair struggled to cope with the physicality of the Livi attack, which will worry Rodgers. Hopefully Nawrocki and Carter-Vickers are back after the international break but before that, Rodgers should look at putting Lagerbielke into the team.