Sporting Kansas City star Johnny Russell has revealed that he is hoping for a future move to his hometown club Celtic.
Russell, who was born in Glasgow but began his career at Dundee United, was recently talking on Clyde Superscoreboard (via the Scotsman) and he talked about how he still hopes for a move to Celtic at some point in the future.
The 29-year-old said: “You never know. It’s not happened. Maybe it won’t but you can always hope. I’m enjoying my time over there, I’m in no rush to come back.
“But it is your boyhood team. It’s something I always wanted to do, never hid the fact I wanted to do that but you never know.”
A star for Sporting Kansas
Russell had joined the Kansas-based side in the January of 2018 from Championship side Derby County. This season, the winger played 28 times in Major League Soccer and found the back of the net as many nine times in the league. He also racked up a tally of six assists.
Last season in the MLS though, Russell had scored ten times and bagged as many as nine assists. His performances had seen Kansas reach the play-off rounds, but he could not take the club beyond there as Russell failed to score or assist.
He had been at Derby for as long as five seasons and he played 205 games in all competitions for the Rams. He racked up an impressive tally of 35 goals and 34 assists.
Before Derby, he had been at Dundee United and the winger had spent temporary loan deals at Forfar Athletic and Raith Rovers. For Dundee, the then youngster had played 119 times in all competitions.
TIF Tactics
Russell has been known to play various positions in the front three and the Scot has also played as a striker or a right-winger in his career.
As for his hometown club Celtic is concerned, they have played the 4-2-3-1 system under Neil Lennon this season. They have often used a three at the back shape in European competition but the former is their predominant shape.
The system usually sees Mohamed Elyounoussi play on the left, Odsonne Edouard play upfront and James Forrest play on the right side of the pitch. Lewis Morgan and Jonny Hayes add depth on the flanks and that is crucial, as the season wears on.
As things stand, it is tough for someone like Russell to come into the side and play regularly. For someone who is 29, he would demand first-team football and get the most out of the last 4-5 years of his career. But currently, he won’t get it at Celtic. But as he says, there is nothing wrong with holding onto hope.