THEY would be as well moving the Swedish Embassy from London to the east end of Glasgow.
Celtic Park has been a popular destination for footballers from that part of Scandinavia in recent years, with Mikael Lustig yesterday following in the footsteps of Henrik Larsson, Johan Mjallby, Freddie Ljungberg and Daniel Majstorovic as he completed the formalities of his free transfer.
It is often dangerous to perpetuate national stereotypes but, just like many of his countrymen who preceded him at Celtic, the first impressions of Lustig were that he is extremely laid-back and quietly enthusiastic, with a quirky haircut and penchant for tattoos. He also, like the others, arrives with a decent pedigree. The 25-year-old right-back, who can also fill in at central defence, spent the past three years at Rosenborg in Norway, with whom he twice won the league title. He is also a seasoned Swedish internationalist with aspirations of featuring at next summer's European Championships.
On that latter front, he admits coming to Scotland constitutes a risk. Celtic already have three accomplished right-backs on their books and Lustig may struggle to be selected ahead of Adam Matthews, Cha Du-Ri and Mark Wilson, when the latter recovers from a knee injury. That in turn could affect his international aspirations.
"I know it is a gamble, but it was going to be a gamble whatever team I went to," he said. "I wanted to go to a team that plays my kind of offensive football and that is why I think Celtic is a perfect step for me. I have not been given any assurances that I am going to play here. I think Neil Lennon and Johan Mjallby want the best 11 to play and that is fine by me."
Lustig saw some of the competition close up on Wednesday night when he watched Matthews excel for Celtic in the victory over Rangers. It was his first time in Scotland – all the transfer negotiations were concluded in Norway with their season still underway – and he was blown away by the atmosphere at the Glasgow derby. "I had only been in Scotland for two hours, so I was like, 'Whoa!' This is my first-ever visit to Scotland, so it has been quite an introduction," he said.
"It was a wonderful atmosphere and everything was great. I had heard people talking about the Old Firm and saying it was going to be like the best game in the world. I questioned that. I said, 'Really?' When I saw it, though, I realised how amazing it is. In Norway, you have a few fans behind the goals who are cheering, but it was the entire stadium. If I am being honest, I almost watched the spectators more than the game."
Lustig will be doing a bit more spectating in the coming weeks. The Norwegian season concluded on November 27 and he has spent the past month trying to recover from the rigours of a hard campaign. He believes it may be a few weeks yet before he is ready to feature for Celtic. "I had a really long season with Rosenborg and the Swedish national team, so I have just been resting my body and my mind over December," he said. "Over these first few weeks, I will just train by myself and with the team. In two or three weeks, I would hope to be able to play."
Lustig had other offers when it became apparent he would be leaving Rosenborg but Majstorovic's input helped him settle on Celtic. "I spoke to Daniel and I know Henrik says such good things about the club and the city as well," he said. "Daniel said that it is my kind of playing and he really likes Glasgow. He said that the fans are awesome and that he feels the club is really professional.
"When I signed, I said that I wanted to go and win titles. I wanted to go to the Champions League. At that time Celtic were actually 12 points or so behind in the SPL and they have now gone top, so the timing has been perfect for me."
Lustig's signing for Celtic should make at least one member of his family particularly pleased. "My dad really likes whisky and he has been to Scotland in the past on a whisky trip with his friends," he explained. "He has been a few times and I know he watched Celtic when he was here. He always brought his whiskies home and has a large collection of them back in Sweden."
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