Callum McGregor has played beyond himself this season where goals are concerned.
The Celtic captain has dictated play for the club in the vast majority of matches this campaign so far as he so often does with his relaxed yet intense style of play.
McGregor is Celtic’s metronome in the middle of the pitch as he keeps things moving back to front, front to back. He has also grown further into his skipper role with his demands and team talks in particular becoming more impactful.
The one thing that CalMac has added to his game this season, though, is goals and at 31-years-old, teaching old dogs new tricks can be difficult.
But the midfielder has notched nine this term and there is still time to add to that tally. It means the player has scored 73 times for the club across his years at Celtic Park.
Callum McGregor has overtaken Paul McStay’s Celtic goals tally
That takes him beyond another club legend in the Maestro, Paul McStay. The legend hit 72 goals during his 16 years and McGregor is honoured to be mentioned in the same breath.
“Paul is from before my time but his name’s just synonymous with Celtic,” McGregor said. “You watch clips and everybody talks about how good a player he was. He’s one of the names that is mentioned along the way, guys like Tommy Burns, Henrik Larsson… they’re the most famous names that come to mind when you think about Celtic.
“He was clearly a legend of the club and somebody who was held in really high regard by everyone. He was an amazing player and just to even be in that same sentence is amazing.
It’s always nice to hit wee landmarks like that. Obviously he is such an influential figure for the club and such a great player.
“To be in the same sentence and in the same bracket is something to be really proud of. But there’s still a lot to come, still a lot to do. I want to keep pushing and keep giving my all for the club.”
McGregor has definitely laced up his shooting boots this season and he has set his own target now.
His goals tally at Notts County during his loan spell in 2014 saw him hit 14 and that’s what he is aiming for this campaign.
Back then he had the likes of Jack Grealish helping lay balls on for him to score from but now it’s Daizen Maeda, Nicolas Kuhn and plenty others.
McGregor names Celtic goals target for 2024/5 season
So he wants to score even more before the end of the campaign to boost his numbers.
“Pretty much every time I’ve shot it’s been in!
“You get wee spells like that during your career where you’re in a good flow, these things go in and they fall for you. It’s nice just to chip in and contribute as well.
“The goals are being spread right throughout the team this year and that’s been a good source for us as well, so we want to continue that as much as we can. I think I got 14 on loan at Notts County and the season the campaign was cut short for Covid I was on 13 at that point, then 12 before that.
So I’m getting close to that. You want to get to double figures and see where you can get to from there.
“But again, the job is to make sure the team functions properly. If the team is functioning well, then we’ll get more opportunities to score and everyone will get more goals, assists etc.
“The No.1 focus is to make sure the team is doing well and everything’s connected in the way we want to play, we’re defending properly and then that will lead to more chances for everyone.
