Victor Wanyama has revealed that he took a break from preparing for the Champions League Final to cheer Celtic on in the final of the Scottish Cup.
The Spurs midfielder spent two seasons at Celtic creating the transfer template when he moved on to Southampton for a then record fee of £13m.
Wanyama looked to be another project deal when Celtic paid Germinal £1m for the 20-year-old but he soon forced his way into the side as the hoops claimed the first of their current run of eight successive Scottish titles.
As Wanyama left the club Virgil van Dijk arrived with the two men set to face each other on Saturday night with the greatest prize in club football at stake as Liverpool face Spurs in Madrid.
Looking back on his route to the top the Spurs midfielder told the Daily Record:
I will always be grateful to Celtic for what they did for me and my career and I will always be grateful to Neil Lennon, too. He taught me the game. He made me a mature player. He gave me that understanding which let me go on.
I haven’t heard from him, but I watched their game against Hearts in the Scottish Cup Final last Saturday and I was cheering for them.Â
Neil Lennon gave me a platform and also a belief that I could go and play at the highest level. Celtic is still like a family to me. It is still a home. They gave me the platform on a big stage and I took it.
Wanyama is best remembered as a Celtic player for his goal against Barcelona in 2012 which helped Lennon’s side to a famous 2-1 win on route to the last 16 of the Champions League.
We do seem to like the Dortmund lookhttps://t.co/ajJAUdscid
— Joe McHugh (@videocelts) May 27, 2019