“The board wanted me to stay” – Celtic exit down to Brendan Rodgers, club felt differently

Sead Haksabanovic wasn’t part of Brendan Rodgers’ plans at Celtic and left the club on loan for Stoke City in the summer 2023 window.

He had a mixed time there, with a groin injury at the end of the year ruining things a little for him. There wasn’t much hope for a return to prominence at Celtic, given it’s Rodgers who didn’t fancy him and that the manager remains at the club.

Instead, Haksabanovic has moved to Malmö FF, with a lot of fanfare around the transfer.

The player himself thinks it’s a good move and not a step back, quoted by Fotbollskanalen as saying:  “In terms of football, I don’t think that Malmö and Celtic are far apart.”

Pressed a little on why he had to leave Celtic on loan last summer, having done well under Ange Postecoglou and then being discarded by Rodgers, he replied: “Yes, mostly him (Rodgers), because the board wanted me to stay. They believed in me but he had other plans.”

Still, there’s certainly no pessimism over his move this summer, with Haksabanovic saying: “Malmö in Sweden is like Real Madrid in Spain.”