Lustig tells Parkhead chiefs to deal him in
MIKAEL Lustig says he is desperate to prolong his stay at Celtic – but has heard nothing from the club about a contract extension.
The full-back, a Sweden internationalist, has been a mainstay at Parkhead since Neil Lennon signed him from Norwegian side Rosenborg in January 2012, but finds his future up in the air with his current deal due to expire this summer. While the 29-year-old is settled personally and professionally in Glasgow, Lustig could theoretically speak to other interested parties as early as January, but would love to get matters sorted quickly.
“There’s been no movement,” he said. “I’m in my last season and we haven’t discussed the contract, so we will see what happens. But I want to stay. I’ve loved every minute of my time here.”
After their thrilling 3-3 Champions League draw with Manchester City on Wednesday night, the Parkhead side now face back-to-back meetings with German outfit Borussia Moenchengladbach. While two wins would keep alive unlikely hopes of reaching the last 16, perhaps a more realistic expectation is four points from the two matches, which would keep them ahead when it comes to Europa League qualification.
“When you lead three times you wants to take the points but we have to be realistic and recognise we faced one of the best teams in the world,” said Lustig. “The support from the fans was unbelievable and it was needed for a game like this. But we didn’t take a point against City just because we fought for the ball – we played good football. We pressed them very well and that’s the main reason we got the point.”
The midweek performance was a huge vote of confidence in Brendan Rodgers’s aggressive pressing style after the 7-0 reverse to Barcelona on the opening match day. “In Barcelona we only had two or three chances and not a lot of the ball but in this game we put them under pressure and they couldn’t really handle it,” said Lustig. “We tried to keep the ball and be offensive, of course, that’s part of the reason we lost 10 goals in two games. But it’s not often you see City playing long balls all the time and we did what we wanted to do – scoring when we got the chance.”