IT takes quite a leap of faith to believe Celtic ever had even the faintest chance of landing the world's latest teenage sensation, Martin Odegaard, but they certainly gave it a go.
Ronny Deila was the 16-year-old Norwegian's manager at Stromsgodset and repeatedly told the boy and his father that Celtic would be a good option for his career development. It is a line he will continue to peddle - he would like to get Odegaard on loan one day - but for now, his future is with Real Madrid.
Contract talks with John Guidetti have been put on hold until March or April, "or longer", said Deila, while the on-loan Swede consider his options. He will be a free agent in May.
The midfielder Beram Kayal, who never became the Celtic player he promised to be after some wonderful early form, is poised to move to Brighton & Hove Albion. These count as relatively routine issues compared to the intoxicating fantasy of pursuing Odegaard.
Celtic kept some elite company when trying to attract the terrifically talented Norwegian international prodigy. Bayern Munich, Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool all wanted him but Odegaard disappointed them all, and Celtic, by signing for Madrid. There were pictures of him on Twitter between Ronaldo and Sergio Ramos after his signing was formally announced, grinning like the Cheshire cat. He will earn £80,000 a week.
"I think it's an exciting move," said Deila. "It's very hyped in Norway. It's the biggest thing that ever happened I think, the first Norwegian player to join Madrid. It's a big thing. I'm happy for him. It's going to be so exciting to see how far he can reach.
"I hoped to get him to Celtic, of course, but I knew it was going to be hard with all the options. I have a good relationship with Martin and his father. They called me the day they chose Real Madrid. I didn't put much into it. I just said that we're an option. Here you have a better chance to play. This is a between step to the biggest clubs. This [a loan] could be possible but we want players that we own or can make money from of course. That's the important thing."
Real Madrid have fixtures against Real Sociedad, Sevilla, Atletico Madrid and, in the Champions League, Schalke in February. Celtic have a big month of their own, with the Old Firm League Cup semi-final, a Scottish Cup tie against Dundee and Inter Milan in the Europa League coming up. "It is a very big month. I am excited. They are going to be very interesting games."
Some have said that Aberdeen's bubble burst when they drew 3-3 with Dundee last weekend after their wonderful run of eight consecutive wins and clean sheets, but Deila did not believe the challenge from Pittodrie was over. "I think they have a very good team. They should be up there. They have had consistency in their team over the period and they have improved. They can win a lot of games.
"It is always when you are up fighting for titles that you have to bounce back quick, you can't have long periods with bad results. You need to maintain a high level over a whole season. We will see if we can do it and if Aberdeen can do it, and Dundee United, Inverness or whoever."
It did not escape his attention that Motherwell had played defensively throughout their 4-0 midweek defeat at Parkhead, and he read something into that: "I think that says people fear us more than they did before."
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