Sead Haksabanovic used to run around as a kid pretending to be Ronaldinho in the Champions League. Now the Celtic star is savouring the opportunity of sampling the big time for real as part of the Parkhead Euro bid.
Haksabanovic could make a third Group F appearance against RB Leipzig having featured from the bench in the opener against Real Madrid and also making the starting line-up on night two for the draw with Shakhtar Donetsk in Poland.
Many of Postecoglou’s young guns are sampling the rarefied atmosphere of the elite competition and he’s amongst that fresh unit. Just as he was as an enthusiastic youngster, the Montenegro international was back at a local park running around again in the summer as he trained alone waiting patiently for a switch out of Russian club Rubin Kazan.
Haksabanvic couldn’t believe back then he’d now be going in against the continent’s biggest guns at that stage and said: “No chance. It’s a dream to play in the Champions League.
“When I was playing football as a kid, I watched the Champions League and, when I was running around playing with my friends, I would be screaming about being in the Champions League. Who was I pretending to be back then? Ronaldinho, maybe. It’s just amazing and my friends are really happy for me as well. It’s the biggest stage. It’s where everyone wants to get to.”
Haksabanovic was well versed in the traditions of Celtic even before he signed just before the close of the transfer window. Born in Sweden, the attacker is friends with Henrik Larsson’s son Jordan and recalls the success enjoyed by his dad and the likes of his countrymen Johan Mjallby and Mikael Lustig in the biggest competition.
Haksabanovic said: “I looked up to these guys a lot. Henrik’s son is my good friend. So I know a lot about what he has done here. I have seen clips of it, so I am just going to do my best and see if I can achieve 10 percent of what he did.”
He didn’t discuss the move to Glasgow with Larsson Jnr beforehand as he didn’t want the cat to come out of the bag as regards the Postecoglou interest. But there was warmth there when the news came out and the paperwork was signed as he explained: “I didn’t because I didn’t want anybody to know. But he messaged me when it was done and said: We are happy for you, it’s a great club, they will take care of you, if you need anything you can ask me.”
Haksabanovic’s links to Parkhead just keep coming. As well as the young Larsson, he comes from the same part of Sweden as Freddie Ljungberg, who had a spell at Parkhead almost a dozen years ago during the first managerial reign of Neil Lennon.
He said: “I am from a small town, but there have been many players from there who have been big in Sweden and in England. Freddie Ljungberg is from the same city as me. He is a bit of a hero of mine.
“When I was around 10 or 11 he trained me in my hometown. Everybody knew who he was, but he didn’t know me. Henrik trained me too. They had a coaching lesson and he came.”
Haksabanovic’s hard work has now paid off as he now beds into Parkhead for the domestic challenges and rubs shoulders with the elite of Europe. It is, of course, not the attacker’s first venture to the British Isles. Having shone for Halmstads in his homeland, he was snapped as a promising teenager up by West Ham United, but the move did not work out as he had hoped with loan moves to Malaga in Spain and Norrkoping before a permanent return to the country of his birth and onto Russia.
Haksabanovic, who got the last 10 minutes of the weekend win over Motherwell in place of Kyogo Furuhashi, said: “When I was young, I went on trial to many clubs in the Premier League.
“But when my team in Sweden asked me about a first-team contract, and I was still so young, I thought playing first team in the highest league in Sweden instead of going to a youth team in England was better for me. It [West Ham] was a big move, but I didn’t go there thinking I would play every game because I was still only 18 and coming from Sweden.
“After Slaven Bilic got sacked I didn’t get much game time. I played every game of prep-season under the new coach, but they were keen for me to go out on loan. It didn’t turn out so good for me at Malaga as the manager there didn’t want me to play.”
Now, though, he’s back wanted with Postecoglou giving him a huge opportunity to produce and deliver in Glasgow. Haksabanovic is desperate to repay the faith and keep providing for not just the club but also his loved ones with his positive outlook on life.
He said: “Yeah, 100 per cent. I love to play football, I love to make money for my family and to help them. If I had one leg on which to play football I would still do it.”
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