SEAD HAKSABANOVIC bowed out of Celtic with a final sideswipe at Brendan Rodgers as he prepared for life at Malmo.
The Sweden-born Montenegro international winger fell foul of the Hoops manager following an ill-advised social media posting after only four games last season.
Haksabanovic, bought by Ange Postecoglou for a cut-price £1.7million from Russian club Rubin Kazan in the summr of 2022, didn’t start any of the fixtures and figured as a second-half substitute in the 1-0 League Cup exit at Kilmarnock and the goalless draw with St Johnstone at Parkhead.
SEE YOU LATER…Sead Haksabanovic skips past lunging Todd Cantwell during Celtic’s 1-0 Scottish Cup semi-final success at Hampden in April last year.
Following criticism of Rodgers’ selection process on his Instagram page, the utility forward moved to Championship side Stoke City on a season-long loan.
Haksabanovic sealed his permanent departure from the champions with his move to Malmo yesterday and admittted the transfer had come “earlier than I thought”.
The 25-year-old flanker bodyswerved Rodgers as he paid tribute to the players, staff and fans in a final emotional farewell.
Haksabanovic said: “So my time at Celtic has come to an end, earlier than I thought and expected and wanted, but some other people had another opinion and I gotta respect that.
“Wanna thank the players, the staff and the fans because that is really what Celtic is about, we made some good memories together and I will always have love for Celtic, good luck and Celtic are f*cking massive everywhere they go, all the best for the future.”
GONE BHOYS…Filipe Jota and Sead Haksabanovic have quit Celtic since the treble in season 2022/23.
The fee was not disclosed, but it is believed Celtic had told Stoke City they would be looking for £2.2million for the player who still had three years to run on his Parkhead contract.
The second-tier club, who escaped relegation by five points, didn’t take the Hoops up on their valuation after Haksabanovic’s one goal from 21 appearances.
It appears the Swedish club have met that financial demand to land the versatile forward.