CELTIC'S latest signing, Johan Mjallby, arrived last night and, as he quickly set his sights on a debut against Rangers on Saturday and resurrecting his new club's title challenge, he was being hailed as an even better player than present Parkhead hero Henrik Larsson.

Should that prove to be the case, Celtic will have got themselves a bargain, as Sheffield Wednesday, for one, seem prepared to pay about #4m for Larsson, while the Glasgow club have only had to fork out #1.5m for their latest recruit.

After his medical at a Glasgow hospital, Mjallby spoke of his delight at joining Celtic and becoming a full-time footballer for the first time in his career. Despite all his success with his previous club, AIK Stockholm, who he joined as a 13-year-old, Mjallby continued to work as a distribution manager on a Swedish national newspaper.

Mjallby said: ''This is a dream come true for me. I have always wanted to be a full-time footballer and to do it with a club as big as Celtic is fantastic. I am delighted to be here and I only hope I can start playing right away and am looking forward to the game against Rangers.''

As he left Parkhead last night, Celtic coach Dr Jozef Venglos praised the man he had brought to the club, saying: ''He is a very good player, and international-class player. He will do a good job for Celtic.''

The 27-year-old midfielder has been described as the Swedish equivalent of Paul Ince. It is believed that Celtic beat several English clubs, including Leeds, Arsenal, Liverpool, and Wimbledon, for his signature.

They had been attracted to the player by his strong-running midfield performances for AIK Stockholm, who clinched the Swedish league title last Sunday. He was certainly appreciated at AIK, the player flying into Scotland with many of his previous club's supporters.

Leading Swedish football analyst Thomas Pettersson, who accompanied his close friend, believes that Mjallby is an even better player than Larsson, who has been one of the most influential players at Parkhead in recent seasons. Pettersson said: ''We hear that Celtic could pick up #4m if they sold Henrik Larsson and, in my opinion, Johan is an even better player than him.

''He was probably the most influential and important player in the Swedish league last year and it was his playmaking which helped his club to the title. He is very much a similar player to Paul Ince in that he can play a defensive midfield role, can win the ball, and will keep fighting to the end. He doesn't know when to give up.

''He is a very good signing for Celtic. He is experienced, a hard working player, and he will have no problems playing in the Old Firm game if he is picked.''

Celtic also received good news on the injury front last night with Alan Stubbs and Stephane Mahe both likely to recover from injuries to take their place in the Old Firm game.

The SFA also confirmed that midfielder Paul Lambert is available for the game after having completed his suspension at St Johnstone last week.

Celtic are still trying to tie up the signature of Marko Viduka but are unlikely to have him in time for Saturday's game, despite progress being made on bringing him to Parkhead. Celtic are known to have already applied for a work permit for the Croatia Zagreb striker and yesterday there was a firm indication that Viduka's personal terms have been met.

A spokesman for Viduka's agents, International Management Group, said: ''Marko and Celtic have come to an official arrangement and they are now making sure that everything is in place legally.''

On the down side for Celtic David Hannah, suffering from a stomach bug, could miss out on the game that, should his side lose, will leave them 13 points adrift of Rangers.

A further boost has come through long-term casualty victim Morten Wieghorst, who has predicted he could well return to action before the end of the season.

The Danish internationalist sustained a serious leg injury against Kilmarnock and initially thought he would be sidelined for the remainder of the campaign. However, Wieghorst said yesterday: ''The injury is looking good and though it is early days I would still like to play some part in this season.''

qSATURDAY'S Old Firm match will be a double sell-out, with more than 90,000 paying customers watching the action.

Parkhead will be packed to its 60,000 capacity for the visit of Celtic's arch-rivals, while Rangers last night confirmed that nearly all of the 30,000 tickets for the TV beamback at Ibrox had been sold. That will make it the biggest crowd watching a match in Scotland since the 1972-73 Scottish Cup final, when 122,714 turned out at Hampden Park to watch Rangers beat Celtic 3-2.