URUGUAYAN World Cup left-back Diego Laxalt arrived at Celtic on loan from AC Milan in October 2020.
Neil Lennon urgently sought another No.3 after offloading Boli Bolingoli to Turkey following revelations about his secret trip to Spain in August and subsequent breaking of Covid quarantine guidelines.
Laxalt answered the SOS to offer competition to Greg Taylor.
The defender, 28 at the time with 24 caps, cost £16million when the Serie A outfit signed him from Genoa in 2018.
He had also had spell on loan at Torino before agreeing his switch to Glasgow.
MISFIT…Diego Laxalt failed to impress at Celtic.
Alas, Laxalt failed to impress during his 28 appearances for the Hoops and the highlight of his time in Glasgow was his stoppage-time equaliser against Hibs in a 2-2 draw at Easter Road the following month.
Only days after his recruitment, the lithe back-four operator was thrown into the first team for his debut against Rangers at Parkhead. It wasn’t a memorable baptism as the Ibrox side won 2-0 with goals from Connor Goldson.
Laxalt suffered in the general shambles at the club as the team stuttered through a wretched campaign while blowing the opportunity to win a historic tenth successive title.
He returned to Milan in the summer of 2021 and moved to Dynamo Moscow on a permanent basis later that year. He is under contract until June 2026.
* TOMORROW: Don’t miss the adventures of another former Celt in CQN’s EXCLUSIVE series.
