JOHN GUIDETTI became an instant hit with the Celtic fans after arriving on a season-long loan from Manchester City in September 2014.
Ronny Deila urgently required firepower and the Swedish striker looked to be the answer when he scored his first goal in his second appearance, a 3-0 League Cup win over Hearts in Glasgow.
Guidetti went one better in his next outing when he claimed a double in the 2-1 Premiership success over St Mirren in Paisley.
The frontman was on fire as he thumped in a hat-trick in a 6-0 League Cup quarter-final victory over Partick Thistle and he followed up with the only goal against Inverness Caley Thistle. He was named as Premiership Player of the Month for October.
SWEDE DREAMS…John Guidetti clips the ball past stranded Hearts keeper Neil Alexander.
Guidetti hit a penalty-kick in a 4–0 win over Hearts at Tynecastle, but then went on a scoreless sequence of 10 games and was dropped to make way for Leigh Griffiths.
However, he was in the headlines again when he netted a superb equaliser in a 3-3 Europa League stalemate against Inter Milan at Parkhead in February 2015. The flamboyant frontman won his first Hoops honour as a substitute in the 2-0 League Cup Final win over Dundee United.
Guidetti claimed his 15th and final goal for the club in his 35th appearance in the controversial 3-2 Scottish Cup semi-final extra-time loss to Caley Thistle.
Hoops fans hoped Guidetti would sign on permanently when his parent club City announced he would be released in the summer.
However, he opted for a move to Celta Vigo and scored 11 goals in 66 league matches spread over three years before moving on loan to fellow-Spanish club Alaves with the switch becoming permanent.
That followed a temporary transfer with German side Hannover 86 before he returned to Sweden last summer to sign for AIK.
Guidetti scored five goals in 18 league outings for the club and the 31-year-old forward is still a first-team squad member at the Swedish outfit.
* TOMORROW: Don’t miss the adventures of another former Celt in CQN’s EXCLUSIVE series.
