CELTIC are not the biggest club in the world nor are they the richest.

But there are some who can’t believe any footballer lucky enough to get the chance would want to play for anyone else but the Scottish champions. Callum McGregor falls into that category.

When heroes of the past left the club, Kenny Dalglish, Brian McClair and Murdo MacLeod to pick three not really at random, they joined Liverpool, Manchester United and Borussia Dortmund; clubs which could offer those players a bigger stage.

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And a pay packet with many more zeroes on it than a less than generous board at Celtic Park were willing to write out.

That was then and this is now. We could argue all day about what makes a club ‘big’ in 2018. What cannot be argued is that every club in the English Premier League and majority in the Championship, including those with nothing close to Celtic’s history, pedigree and popularity, are able to comfortably top what the best earners at Parkhead take home.

This is why Southampton have had the pick of some of Celtic’s best players. It is why Brendan Rodgers can’t compete in the transfer market, and for the most part doesn’t try to, with English clubs, who have achieved next to nothing.

McGregor is easily good enough to play in England. However, like his friend Kieran Tierney and captain Scott Brown, it would take something special to even turn his head.

After all, where else can you get scoring in a cup final for the team you support on a history making afternoon?

“I don’t think so,” said McGregor when asked if he expected a few Celtic players to leave this summer. “I think when you are here and you are winning things, you see the support and you know how massive the club is, well that’s a big draw.

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“You are not leaving here to go somewhere else. You are winning things, you are successful and are playing in the Champions League.

“It’s probably a key factor for us to try and keep everyone together. I have said it before that we have a special group of guys at the club. Everybody is together and everybody wants each other to do well.

“Even the guys who are not playing are just as happy when you are doing well and you are happy when someone is in there and doing well. That’s the way it has to be to get success. Everyone has to be together.

“That’s been a massive part of why we’ve been so successful and we have to try and keep these guys and keep as much of the squad as we can together.

“The magnitude of the club and the support you get, you don’t want to leave here. Days like last Saturday at Hampden shows that this is the best place to be, so, for me, it’s simple.”

Simple is what McGregor makes football out to be. What a player this 24-year-old Glaswegian has become. His goal against Motherwell, a terrific hit with his (sort of) weaker right foot typical of what he’s produced this season.

He’s scored against Rangers, Zenit St Petersburg, Bayern Munich and many others. When on the ball, which is often, there few more exciting talents in Scottish football. And, best of all, this is one who rises to the great occasions.

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“It’s just the challenge of playing in big games,” McGregor explained. “You see over the years the great goals and the great players and you see the scenes it creates amongst the supporters and the memories that it gives them.

“You are sitting there thinking: I want a bit of that. I want to be the guy who scores the goal that wins the game.

“The more and more you do it, it becomes a bit more natural and you feel as though you can be the one who is going to make the difference or can make the difference.

“I probably don’t get nervous before big games. It’s more that excitement for the game and the way you feel with butterflies in your tummy wanting to go out and give a good performance and help the team to win.

“To be a part of a special day in the club’s history is hard to put into words and it’s difficult to sum up just how I am feeling.”

Brendan Rodgers described McGregor as his Philipp Lahm; a world class player who won a World Cup with Germany and the Champions League with Bayern Munich. He was captain both times.

McGregor will do well to replicate those achievements but he’s well on his way to becoming a modern Celtic great, especially if he can build on last season’s performances.

He said: “With the number of games that I played and the amount of starts that I made through the season, I think I felt as though I contributed more this time. There were goals in big games as well.

“Obviously, it was great last year and I hope that I played a part last season, but probably becoming more of a main player is something that I wanted to do.

“It was great to hear the manager give me credit and the way you want to repay him is by giving him trophies and playing well.

“It also creates good memories as well.”

McGregor has created so many good memories already and he’s just getting started.