Celtic: Fridjonsson persuaded by ex-Rangers pair

Icelandic striker Holmbert Fridjonsson will see him join Celtic on January 1st. Picture: SNS

Icelandic under-21 international Fridjonsson was formally unveiled as a Celtic player on Wednesday, although he will not be eligible to play for the club until 1 January when his four-year contract will officially start.

Fram Reykjavik will receive around £100,000 in compensation for their leading scorer, who helped them win the Icelandic Cup for the first time in 24 years this season.

Among Fridjonsson’s team-mates at Fram were former Rangers players, Steven Lennon and Alan Lowing, as well as ex-Motherwell midfielder Jordan Halsman. All gave him glowing references of his new employer.

“I spoke to Steven and Alan about it, as well as to Jordan,” said Fridjonsson. “When Celtic came in for me, they told me to go for it. They said it was a no-brainer. Even though they played for Rangers, they told me to join Celtic straight away.”

Fridjonsson had a week-long trial with Celtic at their Lennoxtown training complex earlier this season and impressed manager Neil Lennon sufficiently that he pursued his signature.

Although the 20-year-old is clearly a long-term investment for Celtic, Lennon has already stated that he expects him to be pushing for first-team involvement before the end of this season. Fridjonsson is reluctant to make any predictions of an instant impact at his new club, however.

“I think I will take time to settle,” he said. “But I will just need to work hard. Hopefully, I can make an impact on the first team but I won’t walk into the team. I need to work hard.

“I am pretty fit already, because the Icelandic season only finished a few weeks ago. I’ll have a holiday now, then do

a kind of pre-season here in December to be ready for when I can play in January.

“This is the biggest step up possible for me. I’m really

delighted to be here. I spoke to the manager already, he gave me good feedback and said I am a promising player.”