Celtic have a rich history and perhaps their greatest era came when Martin O’Neill was in charge during the early noughties.
That’s why you have many current stars who value Celtic very highly in their hearts, even if they have never repped the club.
John McGinn will play against his boyhood club when Celtic take on Aston Villa in the Champions League in January.
But he isn’t the only one who used to follow the famous green and white as a kid.
Liverpool left-back Andy Robertson represented Celtic’s Youth team, but didn’t play for the first team before making a name for himself in the Premier League.
The Scotland captain was in conversation with two of his teammates – Mohamed Salah and Alisson Becker – as they discussed their careers, with Robertson making a brilliant Celtic reference.
Andy Robertson says Celtic legend Henrik Larsson was the ‘hero’ of Scotland
One part of the conversation would make interesting listening for Celtic fans, with presenter Kelly Cates asking the trio about who were their footballing influences growing up.
After Salah dropped in names such as Ronaldo Nazario, Zinedine Zidane, Francesco Totti and Cristiano Ronaldo, the man born in Glasgow shared who was his first inspiration.
Surprise, surprise. Henrik Larsson was Robertson’s inspiration growing up, with the Liverpool man stating that he was the ‘hero of Scotland’, as he told Reds Roundtable.
I think when I was really young probably Henrik Larsson,” shared Robertson regarding his footballing hero. “I think he was the hero in Scotland.
“As my career was going on, I think it was quite evident that I wasn’t going to be a goalscorer. I had to shift my inspirations.
“Then it kind of turned to the best in the world in them positions. I always looked at and loved watching Philipp Lahm. I loved watching Ashley Cole. The fullback positions changed a little bit. But I loved how they played. Roberto Carlos. They still attacked as well as defended. I always believed that was the best way to kind of do it.
Henrik Larsson Celtic’s King
There has been no one better than Larsson at Celtic in the modern era and he is regarded as one of the club’s greatest ever players.
Perhaps Kyogo Furuhashi could argue that he is the best since Larsson, but with all due respect to the Japan star, there is still a fair amount of gap between the two.
You just don’t make players like Larsson anymore, with that insane pin-point finishing to his dreadlocks that made him stand out from the rest.
As posted by Transfermarkt, Larsson scored an insane 220 goals in his Celtic career, only from 287 matches.
