There was a time when Leo Hjelde was assumed to be the natural defensive successor for Kris Ajer, prior to the Norwegian international’s summer departure for Brentford. Hjelde was highly regarded at the club and followed a similar route to Ajer by heading out to a fellow Scottish Premiership side Ross County, then managed by former Celtic defender John Hughes, just as Ajer had done when he joined Kilmarnock on loan before establishing himself as a first team player with Celtic.
Hjelde, much like Ajer, did well on loan at County and even received some lofty – and perhaps unfair – comparisons with Virgil Van Dijk from Hughes for his impressive performances with the Dingwall club.
Yet that was where the comparisons ended, because despite some pre-season gametime under Ange Postecoglou at the start of the season Leo Hjelde jumped ship and signed on for Marcelo Bielsa at Leeds United and the established pathway to the Celtic first team failed to materialise.
It would of course be easy to jump to the conclusion Leo Hjelde saw a big salary on offer and EPL football to boot, when he chose to leave the Hoops, but according to his Dad Jon Olav Hjelde speaking to Norwegian publication Dagbladet, the decision may have had more to do with being so far from family and being left isolated during the pandemic, rather than footballing or monetary reasons being behind his departure.
“He had to stand in quite a lot when he was in Celtic. We hardly saw him in a year, and he was just sitting in a room to himself. So those were tough times.
“We tried to help where we could, but there were long periods when we could not visit him. It was not just easy, so to speak. There were some phone calls and FaceTime calls. Especially during periods when things were not going well.
“The toughest thing was to leave his little brother. I think that was the worst. They have spent countless hours together on the football field, been together a lot and are very close.”
Hjelde was signed by Leeds United with the expectation he’d play predominantly for their Under 23 side, and initially that has been the case. However, Hjelde is now also getting a taste of first team football with two recent EPL appearances as well as a run-out in the FA Cup.
And with a change of manager at Elland Road seeing Bielsa replaced by former Celtic managerial target Jesse Marsch, Hjelde will once again have to win over a new boss as to his undoubted potential. Perhaps now Hjelde is more settled off the park the Norwegian Under-21 international defender will be able to do just that and show Celtic were right to rate the youngster so highly.
Niall J
