What Stiliyan Petrov told Luke McCowan after he helped Celtic beat Rangers on his debut

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Luke McCowan’s move to Celtic is the stuff of dreams for the former Dundee man.

A lifelong Celtic supporter, McCowan must have thought his chance to represent his boyhood heroes was probably not going to come before joining the club this summer.

At 26, the midfielder had carved out a great career for himself as he worked his way to becoming the Dundee captain.

But now at Celtic, McCowan speaks about what it means to sign for Celtic and what Stiliyan Petrov told him after the defeat of Rangers.

McCowan will ‘use’ Petrov’s Celtic message

McCowan came on as a second-half substitute against Rangers and equipped himself well. And if making his debut wasn’t enough, meeting one of his boyhood heroes in Petrov put the icing on the cake.

McCowan told the Daily Mail, “I used to go to the masters football and Pierre van Hooijdonk was the main man. I got his autograph. You never think this stuff is going to happen.

“But even silly things, I’m able to go and buy my own house and stuff like that now. That’s going to help my family, help my life.

“I’m probably more motivating myself to get to their level. Stan Petrov came up to me after the Rangers game and was shaking my hand.

“I felt myself going like a 10-year-old wee boy. He was telling me, go and kick on. I’ve just got to use that as a confidence thing to push on and use.

“It’s so motivating to know you’ve got the best facilities, the best people, best coaches, best staff, best players that I can feed off.”

McCowan at Celtic

Celtic fans love it when a genuine fan gets to make their dream move to Paradise. What they also love is when that move is a success as well.

Because those kinds of players are living our dream. What many fans would give just to walk on the pitch never mind representing the club in the Hoops is indescribable.

For McCowan, the sheer joy on his face when he walked out of the tunnel on late on deadline day was a joy to watch.

With so much competition and talent in the Celtic midfield, McCowan has a job on his hands to stake a claim for a regular starting spot.

But listening to him speak, you simply cannot help but hope he makes his move a success and becomes a regular for Celtic this season and in the future.