Odin Thiago Holm lifts lid on meeting Brendan Rodgers at Mallorca home after joining Celtic

Young Norwegian midfielder Odin Thiago Holm has joined Celtic from Valerenga.

The 20-year-old midfielder became the Parkhead club’s first recruit of the 2023/24 season and the new Rodgers era last month when he signed a five-year deal and Holm, who has played for Norway at youth level up to under-20s, revealed his first meeting with new boss Rodgers was in Majorca during his holiday and he was suitably impressed.

“I was on vacation in Majorca and I actually met him there in his house, so he seems like a very kind, humble guy with man-management and was easy to talk to and was open, so that was nice,” said Holm. “His CV is very nice and he’s managed Celtic before – Liverpool, Swansea, Leicester – so you get a bit star-struck at first, but I’m looking forward to working with the manager.”

Holm says he had no hesitation when the opportunity to move to Celtic arose. “I didn’t really think, I just wanted to leave as soon as possible,” he continued. “It’s Champions League, you play to win every game, it’s a big club. It feels really nice, it’s a really big club “I don’t think people in Norway understand how big the club is, because Valerenga is a club from the capital with 10,000 for each game and here we have 60,000 so it’s a really big step.”

Holm knows he faces a battle to break into the Celtic first team. His preferred positions are at No 8 or No 10 and says he has the creative instincts to manufacture chances for the forward-thinking players in the team. “I think I’m a creative player that likes a bit of freedom to play on my instincts with the final pass, scoring goals, assists,” he added. “I like to play as number eight or number 10 offensively. It’s not going to be easy. I want to perform and be part of the first XI after some time. I’m really excited to start and play for the fans.”