Odin Thiago Holm is close to leaving Celtic on loan after his health battle in LA, it is being reported.
The midfielder is a forgotten man in Glasgow, having not made an appearance for the club since a 3-0 win away at St Mirren in August 2024.
He joined MLS side LAFC last January, but made just five appearances for the club, revealing that he had been suffering from a rare health condition which left him feeling “half-paralysed”.
As he looks to rebuild his career, he now looks set to return on loan to his native Norway.
Celtic have bloated their squad with a high volume of ‘project’ signings over the last decade…
Odin Thiago Holm set to return to Valerenga on loan from Celtic
TV2 in Norway report that Holm is close to re-joining Valerenga, the side from which he made his £2.6 million move to Scotland.
His arrival coincided with the return of Brendan Rodgers, but had been pre-engineered by Mark Lawwell.
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He started just four games in his first season with the Hoops. Despite this, he vowed that he had ‘unfinished business’ at Celtic early in his time in the US.
Born Odin Holm, he was such a massive fan of former Barcelona and Liverpool star Thiago Alcantara that he legally added “Thiago” as a middle name in 2017. He had to spend years convincing his parents before they finally gave in.
As a teenager, Holm was highly sought after by European giants like Juventus, AC Milan, and Manchester United. He turned them down to sign for Vålerenga having been promised first-team football.
He returned to train with Martin O’Neill’s side in January upon the end of his loan, but has not been seen in action of any kind.
By the end of his spell in LA, he was playing reserve football for LAFC II in the MLS Next Pro.
It makes plenty of sense, then, that he is going home in search of more playing time at Valerenga, who were once managed by ex-Parkhead boss Ronny Deila.
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Other Celtic summer signings from 2023 – where are they now?
Looking back on that 2023 transfer window isn’t fun – forgotten names such as Holm, Marco Tilio and Kwon Hyeok-kyu left Rodgers with a completely bloated squad.
£7 million was spent between Lagerbielke and Maik Nawrocki, but loan signing Nat Phillips ended up ahead of them in the pecking order.
At £3.5 million, Luis Palma was the Jota replacement – he wasn’t an abject failure, making an impact for the team – but he was frozen out by Rodgers and is now on loan in Poland.
Yang Hyun-Jun and Paulo Bernardo are the only two still contributing for Celtic today.
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