Leo Hjelde speaks out about his ambitious Celtic target
Leo Hjelde returns to Celtic in the summer with a first team place as a target.
The 17-year-old is currently involved in a relegation scrap for Ross County who are currently in the Play Off position, two points adrift of Kilmarnock in the safety of tenth place.
Hjelde moved to Celtic shortly before his 16th birthday but the move from Rosenborg was made easier by the fact that he had spend his first five years in England where his Dad, Jon Alav had played for Nottingham Forest and Mansfield Town.
John Hughes was clearly impressed by what he had heard about the young defender and had no qualms about pitching a foreign teenage into his side’s battle to avoid relegation.
There are very obvious parallels with the development path of Kris Ajer with Hjelde hoping to make a similar impact when he returns to Celtic.
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Kris has been really good with me. We’ve had a lot of chats, and I saw him every single day, had lunch with him as well. He really helped me with settling in and staying calm. If I needed any advice I just go and speak to him.
I’d like to follow his pathway but I need to create me own. I look up to Kris so far as an inspiration, but in the end I have to make my own pathway.
The first-team at Celtic is world-class. They play Europa League, and should be playing Champions League in my opinion because of the size of the club. I think that I can get there soon, you have top players like Odsonne (Edouard), Kris, you could basically name the whole team.
They are very good, very sharp, obviously it is quite a big step up from the 23s but I just have to cope with it, that moment
Hjelde seemed to be just another young player until Hughes made comparisons with Virgil van Dijk which certainly drew attention to the 17-year-old.
With a joint English and Norwegian upbringing, he has adapted quickly to everything thrown at him, even turning 18 in August he might be a surprise find for Celtic’s next manager.