New Celtic signing Youssouf Mulumbu is ready to make his debut today against his old side.
Brendan Rodgers’ side take on Kilmarnock in the lunchtime kick-off today in the Premiership, and the 31-year-old midfielder, who signed on a free over the summer, is ready to make a name for himself in the hoops.
Talking in the Scottish Sun Mulumbu said, “I’m impatient to play and to show what ability I have. I’ve trained hard and it’s probably my time now with the red card Olivier had last week.
“It’s up to me to show the gaffer that whenever he needs me, I’m ready.
“It’s special to return to Kilmarnock after some good months there.
“When I arrived from Norwich, it had been an unhappy couple of years and I am thankful for everything that happened since — but the big challenge now is to get Celtic back to the top of the league.”
OPINION
The Mulumbu deal came out of the blue for Celtic fans and it wasn’t the marquee signing they were hoping for in a pretty dismal summer. However, today he might well get the chance to start proving that he’s still got what it takes to play for a big club. Mulumbu has 38 caps for DR Congo and has played for Paris Saint-Germain, before stints with West Brom (where he played 211 matches) and Norwich. He impressed at Kilmarnock but it’s a big step up from there to Celtic. It seems like the perfect time for him to make his entrance in the hoops, at his old club for whom he still has a lot of respect. He’s already said that he won’t celebrate if he scores, although that’s such a rarity that he might forget himself – he only scored 14 in 211 games for West Brom and notched just the one in 20 games for Kilmarnock. However, the defensive midfielder wasn’t brought in for his goals and he’ll be desperate to repay Rodgers’ faith in him with a barnstorming debut.