6 Odin Thiago Holm insights Celtic fans need to know as Brendan Rodgers green lights deal for £2.6m playmaker

The Brendan Rodgers era is up and running at Celtic but the first new face to his playing squad was teed up before the Irishman's box office return on Monday.

The Premiership champions have knack for mining untapped gems and the Valerenga playmaker Odin Thiago Holm fits that profile. A player who has been on the radar of big names now gets his chance to prove his worth in Scotland as a £2.6million move to Celtic is on the verge of completion. The 20-year-old will undertake a medical in London before the finishing touches of his deal are rubber-stamped. Rodgers, like former boss Ange Postecoglou, asks a lot of his men in the middle and prefers to operate with three in the engine room. So there's a real chance for the new man to blossom.

But what kind of player is Holm and what will be bring to Celtic? Record Sport has got the inside scoop from Norway as Dagsavisen's Jørn Henriksen Skjærpe helps what makes the man heading to Glasgow tick.

And that starts by adding the middle name Thiago by deed poll in honour of the Liverpool playmaker. The player who has turned heads in his homeland has been willing to break from convention. Skjaerpe explains: "Odin has been considered a super talent in Norway for years now, even though he is still only 20 years old. He surprisingly chose Valerenga over Rosenborg (he's from the Trondheim area, where Rosenborg is based) back in 2019, and got his debut in the Norwegian Eliteserien for Valerenga at the age of 16 back in 2019."

Holm has been watched by some of the world's biggest teams but chose to double down on his development at Valerenga as leading lights pitch tantalising offers. Juventus were keen to take him on trial with his current side's blessing but he wanted to focus Valerenga