HE’S MY KINDA GUAY
Lenny had his eye on Diego after watching him star alongside Cavani and Suarez at 2018 World Cup
NEIL LENNON was glued to Uruguay’s matches as they made their way to the quarter-finals of the 2018 World Cup.
The Celtic boss savoured the goals of Manchester United new boy Edinson Cavani.
He admired the creativity and tenacity of former Barcelona hero Luis Suarez.
Yet Lennon just couldn’t keep his eyes off the left-hand side of the pitch and the pounding runs of Diego Laxalt.
The full-back charged up and down the flank in Russia with relentless enthusiasm, energy and ability.
Lennon has been keeping tabs on him ever since. He wanted to get him a year ago but he went to Torino instead.
Now, though, in his prime at 27, Laxalt has made his way to Parkhead and his new manager is absolutely thrilled.
Celtic have managed to secure Laxalt on a season-long loan from AC Milan and Lennon can barely conceal his delight.
It’s not easy for any player to catch the eye when surrounded by superstars.
That’s what the former Genoa ace did and it’s why Lennon refused to give up on chasing the 24-cap ace.
Lennon said: “What I like about him is his desire.
“I watched him at the 2018 World Cup and he was excellent in a top- quality Uruguay
What I like about him is his desire. Diego is a player I have admired for a very long time NEIL LENNON IS A HUGE FAN OF LOAN CAPTURE LAXALT
team. He was one of their better players and that’s saying something when you think of the company he was in.
“That’s why we’ve been looking at him for a very long time. He has been playing at a very high level in Serie A.
“He was out on loan with Torino last season and had a fantastic time with Genoa for a few years before that which persuaded Milan to pay £15million for him.
“Diego found it difficult to claim a regular slot with Milan but I’ve kept tabs on him. There was a real desire from him to come here too because there was a lot of interest from the continent, including La Liga.
“I’m just delighted he wanted to come here and delighted we were able to get the deal done.
“He is a player I have admired for a long time and I tried to get him last year.
“We couldn’t get it done at that point but he showed a remarkable desire to come and Diego will make us better.”
At the moment, Lennon says
the deal is purely for a seasonlong loan and has no knowledge of options to buy in the future.
As quick as Laxalt is on the park, he seems equally as sharp off it.
The Uruguayan spent yesterday racing around Glasgow looking for a house and setting up bank accounts.
Laxalt has not had much game time for Milan recently, but Lennon has no doubts he’ll be ready to go when he gets to Lennoxtown tomorrow.
He said: “I’m not sure there is an option to buy in the loan deal. We’ll see how things work out. That may be something we discuss further down the line.
“He’s not had a lot of game time but he’s been training and has also been on the bench for Milan in their last four or five games. As a result, I don’t think fitness will be an issue for him.
“He’s been going around Glasgow sorting out bank accounts and maybe looking at some property.
“He’ll join us for training on Wednesday and we’ll assess his levels then but I’m sure he’s a very fit lad who looks after himself very well.”
Laxalt’s signing has capped an outstanding transfer window for the Celtic manager and also a successful spell for his team.
Fringe men moved out, while the boss has managed to rotate his squad and keep most of them involved while getting the results which have brought him the Manager of the Month Award for September.
He said: “It was a great month for us and it was a brilliant response from the squad. We had seven games and won them all. We used the squad, we freshened things up at times and showed real consistency.
“There is more to come from the squad and now the window is shut, we can settle everyone down.
“We have huge games to look forward to when we come back after the break. I am delighted with the players and there’s been a lot of hard work from my backroom team too.
“We are in decent health and getting through to the Europa group stage was a big help from a financial point of view.
“As a club, we were very strong on not letting any of our big players go. It’s indicative of the pandemic that there wasn’t a huge amount of business on the last day.
“It wasn’t as fraught as previous windows have been on deadline day. It was calm.”