Benjamin Siegrist: Celtic keeper's Instagram rise, why he'll need to change and his lights moment

Life changed in an instant for Benjamin Siegrist when he signed for Celtic. Or, rather, changed in the world of Instagram.

The Swiss keeper built up 6,000 followers on the platform across four years with Dundee United. Within hours of being confirmed as the Scottish champions’ newest arrival on Tuesday evening, the 30-year-old had more than doubled that number. The explosion in exposure inescapable with his new employment doesn’t faze him. “It was crazy,” Siegrist said of his boom in followers. “But that’s one of the things that come with being at a historic football club. So, we’ll take that as it comes.”

Yet, he is far from blase about the assault on the senses performing in front of a going-batty Celtic Park can trigger, having experienced that in a paradoxically detached, yet enveloped, fashion. The fanbase that Siegrist how has backing him developed a grudging respect as he appeared to reserve some of his finest United displays for games against Celtic. In January, his exploits seemed set to earn the Tannadice men a second successive draw in Glasgow’s east end, only for Liel Abada to pop up with a winner that proved a pivotal moment in the title race. It also elicited scenes that left the keeper in awe, as well as agonised. As he explains in articulating why he relished such games.

“I mean, have you seen the stadium? It’s pretty special,” he said. “I remember losing here in the second-to-last minute and the lights were going on, the crowd were going crazy. I was gutted, I was really gutted, but I looked up and I went, ‘this is pretty special here’. It’s just exciting for me to be here, and I want to be part of it, be part of how the manager wants to take the club forward. Working here with the goalkeepers’ union,