Gustaf Lagerbielke had family coat of arms on his shin pads but Celtic target insists his background is 'nothing special'

He drinks decaffeinated coffee. Has worked on streamlining his sleeping patterns and maximising recovery time between training sessions.

He sticks rigidly to a carefully planned nutritious diet and, in between becoming one of the rising stars of Swedish football, he’s studying economics. Oh yeah, and on top of all that, Gustaf Lagerbielke also happens to have been born into nobility with his own title and coat of arms. Son of Count Johan Lagerbielke. And No.254 in line to the throne.

It’s fair to say, Celtic’s latest summer signing target is no ordinary footballer. “For me it’s nothing special,” Lagerbielke says as he sips on his latte. But I understand that people can think it’s funny because it’s not that common to have names like that in the football world. For me it’s just a name and everything gets a little bit magnified.” He’s actually a real life actual baron, even though he chooses not to use the title. He’s grown a bit weary of the endless rib-tickling down the years.

“Nobody calls me that, that’s for sure!”, is how the 23-year-old puts it. And standing at almost 6ft 3in in his socks, it’s hardly a surprise. But he is fully aware that his is no ordinary background story none-the-less.

He went on: “I’m not really that familiar but it’s a noble family on my father’s side. There have been some prominent family members in history, someone was in the Swedish Academy, another had a role in the navy. Dad is more knowledgeable about it than I am.

“Yes, we have our own coat of arms - I have a picture of it at home - and when I was younger I had the coat of arms on my shin pads. I also have a coat of arms ring with an engraving.”

Unsurprisingly, the young Lagerbielke was brought up in the leafy suburb of Djursholm, one of