‘I’m not going to lie’ – What Luis Palma told his mum about playing for Celtic when he was just ‘a kid’

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Luis Palma’s time at Celtic looks almost up.

After signing for the Bhoys in the summer of 2023, Palma had a nice run of form, scoring and creating goals for fun for Celtic in his first six months at the club.

The Honduran has spent much of this season on loan at Olympiacos as Palma struggles to break into Celtic’s first team.

The 25-year-old winger looks set to return to Celtic this summer after the Greek club rejected the chance to sign Palma permanently.

But it seems that Palma has always held a candle for Celtic and it started long before he joined the club for £3.5m two years ago.

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Luis Palma told his parents he would play for Celtic after watching Emilio Izaguerre

The Honduran winger always speaks so positively and honestly about his time at Celtic despite his struggles at the club.

However, as a child, Palma had always been confident about pulling on the green and white Hoops one day.

Palma told La Prensa, “I’m not going to lie to you, as a kid, you always want to play to be happy, for fun.

“There was a time when I could see football as a job, but if you ask me if I ever saw myself playing in the Champions League, I can tell you yes.

“Because one day I was watching a Celtic game, where Emilio Izaguirre was playing at the time. I was at home with my parents and I told my mum, one day I’m going to be there.

“Just like life, ten years later, eight years later, I was already playing for Celtic, making my Champions League debut and scoring a goal. I was able to fulfil the childhood dream I always had.”

Luis Palma’s Celtic numbers show that there is a player there, just not for Brendan Rodgers

Palma has scored 10 goals and created 10 assists in his first few months up until December at Celtic. Whilst impressive, it’s what happened after that which concerns Brendan Rodgers.

The Celtic manager then watched the Honduran hit a bad run of form where in the final half of the season he added just one goal and one assist as Palma’s consistency fell off a cliff.

The winger has frustrated Celtic fans on occasions where his body language on the pitch can appear to show a player who is happy at coasting along.

That may have been allowed at the other clubs Palma has played for but at Celtic, where the demands are so high, Rodgers can’t afford to have passengers and that is why the attacker is likely to leave Parkhead this summer.