BENJAMIN NYGREN has revealed there was interest from other clubs to lure him from Celtic after his excellent debut season.
The prolific Swedish midfielder arrived at the champions in a bargain £1.7million move from Nordsjælland last summer and claimed 21 goals as the Hoops sealed an extraordinary league and Cup double.
Nygren also provided nine assists and has followed that up with five goals and six assists this time around and is a certainty to start as Martin O’Neill puts together his line-up for tomorrow’s Premier Sports League Cup quarter-final at Ibrox.
There may be conjecture over other positions, but the playmaker will take his usual place alongside Callum McGregor in Govan.
ON THE SLIDE…Benjamin Nygren celebrates his opening goal against LASK.
The 25-year-old international shrugged off speculation concerning some of Europe’s top leagues plus links to Spurs and Brighton to concentrate on his ambitions at Parkhead.
Nygren admitted: “Yeah, there was interest. Did it get more than interest? No, I play for a big club.
“When the right time is, I cannot answer that. That’s up to me and the club and the potential club. So, whenever the right time is, it is.
“Like I said, I play for a huge club like Celtic. I really enjoy being here. I wanted to stay to play in the biggest competition.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t make it to the Champions League, but we still play in the Europa League.
“My focus is just to do it as well as possible here and to win more trophies here.
“And then what happens in the future, we’ll see.”
Asked if his head had been turned with talk of trebling his wages elsewhere, Nygren, speaking to the Daily Record, answered: “Not really, I would say. I think you’ve learned as a player, you cannot really think of it too much or focus on it too much.
“So, I just try to focus on training as well as possible, play as well as possible.
“And you cannot control what happens in the future. My focus has only been to do as well as possible for Celtic.”
HAND’S UP IF YOU’RE HAPPY…Benjamin Nygren is all smiles after his matchwinner against Dundee in the Premiership kick-off at Parkhead on August 3.
Analysing Celtic’s form since he scored the winning goal in the Premiership opener against Dundee at Parkhead on August 3, Nygren added: “I think the start has been good overall.
“Of course, it was a big disappointment that we didn’t make the Champions League.
“The way I see it, it’s in the past now. We have to grow from it and learn from it. We cannot change it.
“All we can do is go into every game and try to win it, like we’ve done.
“And just continue like that.”
Nygren has every intention of maintaining the domestic momentum at Ibrox tomorrow to make sure Celtic are in the semi-final draw.
BENJI AIMS TO BE IBROX BIG NOISE
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