Mikael Lustig’s likely exit brings a close to the starting XI who famously beat Barcelona 2-1 in the Champions League under current manager Neil Lennon.
Where are they now? Let’s find out!
Fraser Forster
Left Celtic for Southampton in 2014 for around £12million. Forster, now 31, is third choice goalkeeper at St Mary’s. His Premier League career started brightly but injury curtailed his stay as first team keeper and he was dropped two seasons ago after a string of poor performances. Currently, he has only made 125 appearances for Southampton with Celtic still being the club he has made most appearances for standing at 197 games for the Hoops.
Victor Wanyama
Celtic sold Victor Wanyama to Southampton for £12.5m in 2013, around eight months after his Champions League goal against the Catalans. The midfielder would go onto be a star player for the St Mary’s side and with his contract running down in 2016 the player pushed a move through to Spurs. Victor has had ups and downs at the London club – he featured in the Champions League semi-final for Pocchetino’s men but was an unused substitute in the final where they were beaten 2-0 by Liverpool.
Efe Ambrose
The enigma, the Nigerian prince and the Ballon D’or nominee! Efe left Celtic for Hibernian in 2017 with an initial loan deal in place which would follow up into a permanent deal once his Celtic contract ran out. It was current Celtic boss Neil Lennon who brought him to Easter Road. Back in January 2019, Efe cut ties with the Edinburg outfit to join up with Derby County. The defender signed a short term deal with the English club but failed to make a single appearance and was released at the end of the season.
Kelvin Wilson
The English defender left Celtic in 2013 and would later cite family reasons for the reason he left the club. The defender had his critics but he could be solid and no-nonsense and on that night against Barcelona, he was a warrior. Kelvin has been without a club since 2017 and while he hasn’t stated he is retired, it looks like the player’s career could be at an end.
Charlie Mulgrew
Celtic offered Charlie a new deal back in 2016 which he rejected, a few weeks later Brendan Rodgers would arrive and that deal came off the table. The defender was allowed to stay and train with the club pre-season in order to keep his fitness. He would later sign for Blackburn Rovers and have a new lease of life down south. Charlie has made himself a hero down at Ewood Park. The former Celtic captain has made 107 appearances for Blackburn scoring 27 goals – not bad for a defender!
Joe Ledley
Left Celtic very promptly at the end of the January window in 2014. Crystal Palace launched a late bid for the midfielder who has since revealed was left gutted when Celtic accepted it. Joe was in the last six months of his deal when the offer came in and the club were fearing he’d leave for nothing come the summer. Since his Palace days, the Welshman moved onto Derby and after two seasons there, he has now been released by the English side.
Mikael Lustig
We are all aware of Mikael Lustig’s situation. The player wants to stay at Celtic but has resigned himself to leaving the club after talks didn’t go well with the hierarchy. It appears Neil Lennon would like to keep the right back at the club but the board are not budging.
Adam Matthews
You forget how young Adam Matthews was when he signed for Celtic and when helped beat Barcelona playing out of position. That night the right back had to play left back with Emilio Izaguirre out. He moved on from Celtic in 2015 in search of a new challenge which he found at Sunderland. A player who has gone off the radar since his move down south. Adam has had some loan stints away from Sunderland and was released this summer with the Black Cats failing to achieve promotion to the Championship.
Kris Commons
A great player for Celtic and former top goal scorer in a team which had current goal machine Teemu Pukki! The midfielder retired after his Celtic contract running out. Commons was frozen out under Brendan Rodgers and spent a spell at Hibernian on-loan under Neil Lennon before hanging up his boots. He’s now better known as Kris Boyd’s best pal on Sky Sports as the broadcaster continue their horrible coverage of the Scottish game.
Miku
Mik-Who? On-loan from Getafe the player has inexplicably found himself going down in Celtic history. Starting on the night, Miku’s job was to try and keep the ball up the field and give the defence a breather once in a while – it didn’t really work out that well. A signing we’d have all forgotten about by now had he not played in this game. He currently plays in the Indian Premier League.
Samaras
He left Celtic when his contract ran out under Ronny Deila. The club would not sanction a new deal for the Greek god and he went on his way with the fans best wishes. Sammy spent some time at West Brom but never really found any real success elsewhere. He retired last year to take up a board role with OFI Crete. We can confirm he still has his smouldering good looks!
Tony Watt
We won’t go through the whole bench on the evening but we’ll give an honourable mention to Tony Watt for his small cameo. The Scottish striker came on late in the game and found himself in a one on one situation with Victor Valdes – there was only going to be one winner there! Tony Watt or Tony ‘F***ing’ Watt to some scored a goal which will be replayed long after you and I are on this earth.
Since leaving Celtic the striker has become a footballing nomad and has yet to settle at any club for more than a season. After spending the 18/19 season with St Johnstone the player has now hot-footed it to CSKA Sofia and is now preparing to start playing for his new club.
