Sead Haksabanovic rues Celtic fate as winger opens up on Malmo transfer

Sead Haksabanovic admits he wishes his time at Celtic had turned out differently after sealing a permanent move to Malmo.

The Montenegro international, 25, today kickstarted the Hoops' summer transfer clearout by putting pen to paper on a four-year deal with the Swedish champions. Signed by Ange Postecoglou from Rubin Kazan in 2022, Haksabanovic helped Celts to a Treble in his debut season but didn't see eye-to-eye with Brendan Rodgers after falling out of favour last year.

The winger's time at Parkhead was doomed from the moment he aimed a pop at Rodgers on social media for his limited minutes and he was soon farmed out on a season-long loan to Stoke City, where he registered just one goal. After being deemed surplus to requirements, Haksabanovic has now sealed a move to Sweden, with Celts recouping their £1.7million outlay.

And despite his spell in Glasgow being cut short, Haksabanovic says he'll always be a Hoops supporter as he respected Rodgers' decision to let him go.

He wrote on Instagram: "So my time at Celtic has come to an end, earlier than I thought, expected & wanted but some other people had another opinion & I gotta respect that.

“I wanna thank the players, the staff & the fans because that is really what Celtic is about. We made some good memories together & I will always have love for Celtic. Good luck & Celtic are massive everywhere they go. All the best for the future."