Celtic have had strong ties to Australia ever since Tom Rogic signed for the club.
Rogic was a superstar at Celtic and won 16 trophies over a nine-year spell at the club where he will forever be remembered for the Scottish Cup final goal against Aberdeen in the Invincibles season.
Since then, Marco Tilio has joined the Parkhead club and whilst he has struggled at the club, there is still a a chance he could come good.
However, Tilio’s struggles at Celtic has not put off the latest young up-and-coming star from Down Under wanting to come to Glasgow and play for Scotland’s most successful club.
Kristoffer Ajer inspires Dylan Leonard’s dream to play for Celtic
Dylan Leonard currently plays for Western United in the Isuzu UTE A-League and made history by becoming the league’s youngest debutant at just 17 years of age.
After making 24 appearances this season, the young centre-back has shared his dream of one day pulling on the famous green and white Hoops of Celtic after watching Kristoffer Ajer.
Described as a ‘wonderkid’ Leonard told A Leagues 20, “They were players (I modelled my game on) genuinely based off what my dad had told me.
“I watch a lot of Celtic certain players like Kristoffer Ajer when he was at Celtic and the way he used to drive in.
“That’s something I took out of his game, and I wanted to implement that into my own game, like being a centre-back, that when team step back, can step in and can play forward, can change the game.”
Dylan Leonard models Paul McStay as he admits burning Celtic desire
It seems that Ajer is not the only Celtic player Leonard models his game on as the young Aussie admits The Maestro, Paul McStay has also influnced his game.
Leonard continued, “He [Leonard’s dad] used to talk a lot about Paul McStay as well. He would play forward rather than keeping the ball and playing safe, certain players can change games by their ability to play forward. So that was something, even as a centre-back, I’ve tried to put into my own game.
“That’s probably one thing I want to achieve in football is play for Celtic.
“Win something with Celtic obviously, but that’s definitely the one thing I want to do, the one club I want to play for.”
With three caps for the Socceroos U19, Leonard has also captained his country in the 1-0 away win over Myanmar last summer.
It’s clear the young defender not only has a lot of talent but he also has a lot of love for Celtic.
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