WITH the January transfer window coming into its twilight period, much of the focus at Celtic has been on keeping key players at the club rather than securing talent from further afield.
Aside from the acquisition of German winger Nicolas Kuhn from Rapid Vienna, the revelation that Matt O’Riley will remain at the club for the second half of the season despite an offer from LaLiga giants Atletico Madrid during the current window, combined with the continued presence of club captain Callum McGregor, the burgeoning performances from Benfica loanee Paulo Bernardo, and the return from injury of the influential Reo Hatate, makes it seem as if Celtic have made a host of midfield signings this month.
While Rodgers will no doubt be keen to augment his squad, not least in the full-back areas where an already threadbare left-back berth has been hampered further by news of an injury to first-choice Greg Taylor, it is fair to say he has no such issues in the centre of the park.
With so much of the recent talk surrounding the future of O’Riley, the presence of a fellow Scandinavian playmaker in the 5-0 Scottish Cup victory over Buckie Thistle last weekend may have gone somewhat unnoticed.
Odin Thiago Holm made his first start for the Scottish treble winners since November 25 in place of the normally ever-present McGregor and capped an accomplished afternoon with his second goal since joining the Parkhead club on a five-year deal from Eliteserien club Valerenga last summer.
At just 20 years old, the highly rated Norwegian has his whole career in front of him. And he is not short of prime examples to follow if he is to achieve his ambitions of becoming a first-team regular at Celtic and going on to playing for his national team in the future.
“Matt plays in the same position as me and he’s a really good player so I try to learn a lot from him,” Holm said of the Denmark internationalist.
“I couldn’t have a better role model. He’s doing everything right and he’s a top professional away from the pitch as well.
“I try to watch what he does and learn from him. I wouldn’t say he gives me advice - I just look at him to see what he does and how he does it.
“I watch how he plays, how he recovers and also the work he does in the gym. That has helped me.
“Matt inspires me because you look at how he came here from a smaller club and what he’s achieved here at Celtic already.
“You have to be patient in football and take your chance whenever you get it. I’m sure Matt would say he’s done that. Throughout his career so far, he’s done all he can to improve. When you get a chance, you have to be ready. I’m sure all the players here have dreams of reaching their top level.”
Having returned to the starting XI in the cup win last weekend, Holm is keen to continue to build some momentum after a stop-start beginning to his Parkhead career.
“It was good to be back and good for my confidence to be back in a rhythm,” Holm said. “I’ve had some small injuries and I’ve been sick so it was great to be back.
“It was tough to be out, of course, but I’ve had similar experiences in the past so I’ve learned to cope with it.
“My focus was just to get back fit and not let it get on top of me. It’s part of football so you have to learn to handle it at some point. I feel I’ve done that during early experiences in my career.”
Far from shying away from the challenge of breaking into a congested midfield area with the Scottish champions, Holm insists that the fierce competition for places will only aid his development as he aims to reach the levels of his team-mates ahead of him in the pecking order at present.
And the Norwegian is sure both Celtic are the right club and Rodgers the perfect manager to give him the best platform in his fledgling career.
“The competition in midfield here is helping me become a better player,” Holm said. “It’s always good when you have to fight against other players. It pushes you to do better.
“The manager here has a reputation for developing young players and making them better so I hope he can do that with me.
“He started in academy football and managers with that background like to develop players.
“He’s the right manager for me right now.
“He knows how to deal with each individual player and I really like the relationship we have.”
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