Benjamin Nygren on his 'amazing' new teammates

The Swedish international earned his first starting role against Sporting Lisbon, lining up in midfield alongside captain Callum McGregor and Reo Hatate.

Widely regarded as the instrumental playmaker during Wednesday’s 2-0 victory over the Portuguese champions, the former Nordsjaelland winger caught the eye of Hoops supporters with his speed and technical ability.

Post-match, Nygren was full of praise for his Celtic teammates and is looking forward to making his debut at Paradise tomorrow afternoon against Newcastle United.

Speaking to Celtic TV, he said: “I think it was a very good game. I thought we were very good on the ball. We could’ve scored more goals, but it was very nice to score against a very good team. It shows our abilities and how good we are.”

“We scored two very good goals, and we won 2-0. This group is amazing, and all of the coaching staff are amazing. It has been easy to settle in.”

The upcoming friendly with Eddie Howe’s Magpies might give Nygren an opportunity to go head to head with fellow Sweden international Alexander Isak, who has reportedly drawn interest from top clubs such as Liverpool this summer.

The club’s latest midfield addition, though, is keen to make his Celtic Park debut this weekend: “Newcastle are a huge team”, he said. It is going to be very fun to play at Paradise for the first time.”

When Celtic meet Newcastle tomorrow, it will mark the Hoops’ fifth outing of the pre season, having already faced Queen’s Park, Cork City, Estrela da Amadora and Sporting Lisbon.

After Celtic’s one and only pre-season fixture in Glasgow’s east end, Rodgers’ squad will fly out to Italy to compete in the inaugural ‘Como Cup,’ joining hosts Como as well as Ajax and Al Ahli.

Conor Spence