Behind the super-confident exterior, John Guidetti is a romantic at heart. The things he truly values in life are beyond the reach of money.
It is why the Swedish scoring sensation insists he can imagine forsaking greater riches elsewhere to stay at Celtic once his season-long loan is finished.
All he wants for now is to concentrate on extending the superb form recognised with receipt of the SPFL Player of the Month award for October.
When decision time comes, however, Guidetti is adamant that the numbers on his contract will be secondary to the number of goals he could score in the right environment.
An adoring audience is already being created at Parkhead, where fans have long been desperate to savour a forward with real star quality. Guidetti, as prolific in press conferences as he is on the pitch, has delivered sackfuls of the stuff since moving north from Manchester City.
The 22-year-old’s contract at the Etihad expires at the end of the season. After nine goals in his first nine Celtic appearances, every further strike will heighten demands from supporters to keep him in Glasgow on a more permanent basis.
It will be no easy task. Guidetti is thought to earn in the region of £40,000 per week at City. That is significantly more than Celtic’s best-paid player, but well within the reach of a middling English Premier League side impressed by his return to fitness and form.
Compromises will inevitably have to be made if Parkhead is to become his longer-term home, but Guidetti has declared himself open to all possibilities.
‘Of course I can see myself here next year,’ he insisted. ‘You can always see yourself at a club like this. It’s an amazing football club.
‘I want to thank the fans for being so kind to me. They put a bit of pressure on me last week by singing my name even before I scored!
‘I thought, “s**t, now I have to score!” Thankfully I did, but I have to be thankful to my team-mates and to the whole club. Everyone has been amazing.
‘If it’s the right thing then it is the right thing. I don’t think money has anything to do with it. As long as you can put food on the table and support your family.
‘Of course this is my job and you want to be financially stable, but you are going to be at a club like this.
‘You have to look at all the options and see what is there. I need to put myself in a good position by playing well. Celtic want me to play well also and just focus on this year. It’s my agent’s job at the end of the season.’
Two years ago, a virus attacked Guidetti’s nervous system and almost cost him the ability to play football. Inevitably, the huge stress of that experience — which left him hosptialised and cost him a place at Euro 2012 — has shaped his outlook.
Three seasons after an exceptional loan spell at Feyenoord, the return of regular action with Celtic has been a genuine delight.
‘For me, my dream is to play in the biggest games possible and do well, play for my country, win trophies and have a heck of a good time,’ he added.
‘When you look back you are not going to think that was a nice day when I signed that bonus cheque. It’s about saying, “that goal was a beauty”.
‘When you are talking to your three-year-old grandkids, you want to show them a nice goal on YouTube.
‘I would give any amount of money to score a goal and celebrate. It’s the best feeling in the world.
‘The most important thing for me is just to keep getting games under my belt and to smash it — to do the best that I can, never stop and try to improve by working my ass off.
‘I want to embrace this year because I think it is going to be amazing. We have high hopes and I think we can achieve them.
‘To be told you might never play football again to this point where I’m player of the month with Celtic — that’s a big contrast.
‘I never thought what I would do if I had to stop playing football. I would be finished as a person. I would not exist. Me without football is nothing.’
The 22-year-old has revealed he dreams of playing in front of a packed Celtic Park
Guidetti has already boldly declared his intention to help Celtic towards a clean sweep of trophies, believing the Europa League should be targeted alongside a domestic Treble.
Eleven years have passed since the Parkhead club last reached a continental final but Guidetti —ineligible until the knockout phase — is motivated by dreams of reprising the famous UEFA Cup run forged by Martin O’Neill’s side.
‘The boys told me all about Seville,’ he smiled. ‘They told me it would be nice to go far in the Europa League because, back then, it was unbelievable.
‘They told me how there were 30,000 fans in the stadium and 80,000 in Seville. I just thought “wow”. The airline companies much have done well that week!
‘Who wouldn’t imagine days like Seville? I can even imagine being part of the 80,000 walking up the street singing! I would like that as well.
‘My dream this year is to see a full Celtic Park with 60,000 people. Don’t get me wrong, the atmosphere has been amazing, but I am shocked to hear it can be even better.
‘I want to see a sell-out and have goose bumps and the hair on the back of my neck standing up when I score a goal. That’s one of my goals for this year.
‘I am looking forward to everything. I have heard it will be a great atmosphere against Aberdeen this weekend and a great buzz.
‘Hearts away (in the Scottish Cup) will just be an amazing atmosphere, too, and I don’t even need to talk about the Rangers game.
‘These are the games I love, matches that are a bit tasty with a few yellow cards going around.’
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