Appearances can be deceptive.

Slight and bespectacled – the glasses adding an air of incongruity when teamed with the gleaming new kit - Diego Laxalt, Celtic’s boyish looking 27-year-old fullback cut a bookish and unassuming figure when he was paraded to the media on Monday evening.

The Uruguayan internationalist who has arrived for a season long loan deal from AC Milan, however, is not one who has quietly slipped under the radar.

"He is a player I have admired for a long time and I tried to get him last year,” said Lennon. "We couldn't get it done at that point but he showed a remarkable desire to come here. There was a real desire from him to come here, too, because there was a lot of interest from the continent, including La Liga clubs.

“What I like about him is his desire. I watched him at the 2018 World Cup and I thought he was excellent in a top-quality Uruguay team. He was one of their better players and that’s saying something when you think of the company he was in.

“That’s why we’ve been looking at him for a very long time. He was out on loan with Torino last season and he had a fantastic time with Genoa for a few years before that which persuaded Milan to pay €15m for him.”

Expected to usurp Greg Taylor from Celtic’s starting line-up, Laxalt may need some time to get up to speed. There has been a paucity of game time over the last 12 months bit Lennon is confident that he will be at match fitness imminently.

“Diego found it difficult to claim a regular slot with Milan but I’ve always kept tabs on him,” he said. “He’s not had a lot of game time but he’s been training. I don’t think fitness will be an issue for him. He went around Glasgow yesterday, sorting out bank accounts and looking at some property.

“He’ll join us for training today and we’ll assess his levels then but I’m sure he’s a very fit lad who looks after himself very well.”


More notable than the arrivals is that Celtic did not lose any of their first-team regulars. There will be continued speculation around the long-term future of French striker Odsonne Edouard but the closure of what has been a distracting window for him ought to lend an immediate focus to his on-field concentration.

Similarly, Kris Ajer and Olivier Ntcham – whom Celtic dismissed a loan deal for from Bordeaux on Monday – will appreciate that their next game now is more important than their next club.

"Any interest we had in our players was totally rebuffed,” said Lennon. "We did have some interest in Olivier but there was nothing appealing at all. That was the case for all of the players. It was clear from Friday that we weren't going to let anyone out the door.


"The club have been true to their word on that. I think there is more to come from the squad and now the window is shut, we can settle everyone down.

"We have huge games to look forward to when we come back after the break and it's exciting times.”

While Lennon’s squad has been bolstered by the recent arrivals, there was disappointing news when it emerged this week that winger James Forrest has a stress fracture on his ankle which he had tried to play through in the opening weeks of the season.

“We did two scans with James and the second CT scan showed it up,” said Lennon. “He’ll need to rest it for a couple of weeks and then do his rehab so we’re probably looking at doing without him for 4-6 weeks and he’s a couple of weeks into that already.

“Looking back, it’s remarkable that he played on when he was carrying that injury but it got to the stage where he just couldn’t keep going.  At least now we’ve got to the bottom of it, we know what the problem is and he’s being treated accordingly.”

Israeli internationalist Nir Bitton also has an issue with his ankle but has reported for duty ahead of his country’s game against Scotland at Hampden tomorrow night. Lennon will be irked if the versatile 28-year-old is told to play by international manager Willi Ruttensteiner.

“I don’t think he’ll be fit to play for them – I reckon he won’t be ready for that until the first game after the break,” said Lennon.

There was more positive news, though, on Albian Ajeti who could yet make the game against Rangers that follows the international break. Ajeti has netted five goals since his move to Glasgow this summer but has been struggling with a hamstring problem.

“I spoke to him [Ajeti] yesterday morning when he came in to do some running and I hope he’ll join us again for training at the end of this week or the start of next week,” explained Lennon.