Mikael Lustig on Celtic transfer exit sliding doors moment as Neil Lennon plea scuppers La Liga switch

Mikael Lustig has revealed he nearly signed for Sevilla during his first year as a Celtic player.

The former Parkhead defender, who signed on January 1, 2012 and left following the 2018/2019 season, has opened up on his time in the east end of Glasgow. Lustig was forced to wait a couple of months to make his debut for Celtic under Neil Lennon against Aberdeen in a 1-1 at Pittodrie. It took Lustig a bit of time to win the Celtic fans round as he had to play second fiddle to Adam Matthews and Emilio Izaguirre in the early stages of his career in Glasgow.

Lustig's first six months didn't go well in the green and white hoops, and could have seen him end his career in the Scottish Premiership earlier than expected. La Liga outfit Sevilla inquired about the Swedish defender to buy him or take him on loan to Spain, but he was urged to stay.

Lennon told Lustig he was in his plans for the coming season and so he remained in Glasgow. During his time in Scotland Lustig won 16 trophies.

Speaking on the Celtic View podcast, Lustig said: "The season with Rosenborg had finished in November and I felt like I needed a month off, but if I were to go back then I would go to Glasgow right away to train for a month with the team.

"I took a couple of weeks off and I thought I would go in and they would build me up, but I went straight into training and there were better players and the tempo was higher, so my first half of a year was not good.

"When I came back in the summer, Sevilla asked if they could buy or loan me and I felt my start here wasn’t the best so I thought maybe I should go. I’m happy Neil Lennon and the staff said they wanted me and then I started to kick on in my Celtic career."

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