CROATIAN midfielder Ljuban Crepulja is praying that Celtic do not kill his dream of a career-changing transfer to Scotland.

The 22-year-old spent a short spell on trial with the Ladbrokes Premiership champions before being recalled by his club side Slaven Belupo.

Ronny Deila, the Celtic manager, is understood to have wanted more time to assess his qualities and there are concerns a deal may now be off the table as a result of his return home, but Crepulja remains spellbound by his time in Glasgow.

"It is heaven on earth,” he said. “You really cannot compare it to here. It is another world.

“For me, it was a fantastic experience to be part of Celtic.

"Celtic is a big, well-known European club. Going into the ranks of such greats my career would be great, but, as I say, I am not allowed to reveal the details.

"I cannot tell any details about my future. For such information, you would have to ask Celtic.

"It's amazing when you feel that you respect the people there, all of whom are quite relaxed. You feel like a real player there. You are only thinking about football.

"There's no big difference in training. And they are doing a lot with the ball like we do in Croatia, a lot of the time is spent on technique and tactics."

The Croatia Under-20 international was granted a seat in the stand to watch Deila’s team beat Hamilton 8-1 in the league and admits it only heightened his desire to secure a move.

"It's impossible to describe," he added. "It was a great joy.

“The stadium holds 60,000 spectators and, at the match, there were about 45,000 fans. They were always giving their support, greeting and cheering their team.”