Callum McGregor is a generational talent. With 23 major honours, nine titles and five Trebles, the academy graduate is one of the most successful players in Celtic's history.

The captain ticked off another major milestone this week too, chalking up his 500th game for the club - a remarkable landmark for the Glasgow-born star, who used a successful loan stint at Notts County in 2013/14 as the platform to make the breakthrough at Parkhead.

Now, almost 11 years on from his match-winning Champions League debut away to KR Reykjavik, McGregor has achieved just about everything he can with Scotland's most decorated club. Yet he's never been hungrier for more silverware. That appetite and desire to keep on winning is the driving force behind Celtic's unprecedented period of dominance, which he has been the beating heart of.

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Having already lifted the League Cup this season, another clean sweep is firmly in McGregor's sights, with Celts on course for a 55th title and potentially four games away from Scottish Cup glory. And while the man with the most Trebles in world football is determined to lift the lot, McGregor admits nothing will top Tom Rogic's iconic moment at Hampden that etched Brendan Rodgers' Invincibles of 2016/17 into club folklore.

Asked if that was a career highlight, McGregor said: "I think so. Just everything led up to that whole moment. Throughout the season, the team had been playing some unbelievable football, and now the talk is invincible treble. If you win this, you do something that's never been done before. I think you'd be hard pushed to find a more special individual moment than that."

When Scott Brown passed down the armband to his natural successor in 2021, replacing one of the club's most legendary captains was always going to be a tough task. But McGregor's seamless transition has been a credit to his continued leadership on and off the park.

The serial winner said: "[It's] Such an honour, something that I take so seriously. My responsibility is to make sure the club's successful along with all the other players of course but, ultimately, on the pitch the buck will stop with me and I'm happy with that. I'm fine with that because when things are going well then you get the credit but if things don't go so well then you have to front up and face it. It's big pressure, it's big expectation but I feel like that's what brings the best out of me as well."

From being a ball boy against Manchester United in 2009 to captaining Celtic in the Champions League knockouts against Bayern Munich in 2025, humble McGregor has had a fairytale journey to stardom.

He said: "It's amazing and you've got to pinch yourself every now and again to see that it's real and what you've achieved, coming all the way through the academy as a ball boy to captaining and playing in the biggest games in Europe. It's something that I'm really proud of."

McGregor's appearance in the 3-1 win at Fir Park saw him become just the 14th player in Celtic's history to reach 500 games. And while the 31-year-old will surpass Billy McNeill's trophy haul at the end of the season, he has a long way to go to top Cesar's all-time record of 822 appearances. But McGregor doesn't take his success for granted and cherishes playing for his boyhood team every day.

In a special programme with Sky Sports, he said: "It's a dream come true. It's probably the only way I can put it. As a young boy all I wanted to do was play football. I stepped through the doors at Celtic at nine, and to still be here and get 500 games is such an incredible achievement. When you see some of the names that have played for this club you feel immensely proud and very, very lucky to have had such a good career here.

"At this club, you're always under pressure, it's so demanding. To make that many appearances, then, hopefully, I'm doing something right, and I just want to continue working hard every single day trying to help my team-mates and help this football club.

"You just try and put one foot in front of the other each day. Every time you train, try and be at your maximum. Go home, recover well, and then when the games come around, obviously, there's a big expectation for us to win. That's the only thing in your mind pretty much, Monday to Friday is can we win at the weekend?"