Sead Haksabanovic

I hope what he says is true, because it means Rodgers means business with the board. The board probably only believed in him because he was cheap.

 

He was a guy that I was always excited to see when coming off the bench. For some reason he couldn't replicate it when he was starting games though.

 

Sead Haksabanovic insists he doesn't regret the social media outburst that effectively cost him his Celtic career.

The winger was a popular figure at Parkhead after helping Ange Postecgolou's side to a famous Treble in his debut campaign. But Haksabanovic found himself farmed out on loan to Stoke City just months later after failing to see eye-to-eye with Brendan Rodgers. The frustrated frontman's days were numbered when he dropped a bombshell on Instagram by claiming he wasn't valued at Celtic Park, less than 24 hours after coming off the bench in a goalless draw against St Johnstone.


With just days of the summer window left, the Montenegro international secured an escape route to the bet365 Stadium. However, the 25-year-old would never pull on the hoops again after joining Malmo permanently during the summer. It was a bitter ending to Haksabanovic's time in Glasgow and while a section of fans felt let down by his online conduct, the ex-Rubin Kazan star has now aired his side of the story.



In an exclusive interview with Football Scotland before last week's Europa League defeat to Rangers, Haksabanovic reflected: "I wouldn't say that I regret it [the Instagram post]. It was nothing to the fans or anything like that. I don't want to go into details and stuff, it's between me and them, but I felt I was not treated as the others were and I need to look for myself and make sure that I'm good because I understand why the fans were mad at me.

"They always want the best for the club and as long as I was a Celtic player I did that as well. But I need to protect myself as well because of things that someone can do against me and if I don't like it, feel appreciated or respect it... it didn't need to go so far that I needed to post it, but it went so far so I had to do something for myself."

Rodgers admitted at the time that he was "surprised" by Haksabanovic's remarks.


We spoke about it after a training session", Haksabanovic continued. "It was a good talk, we shook hands and everything. After that, I felt that they didn't want me there. They had different options on the table but they kept saying no to everything, I don't know why. They didn't want me there. In the end, I had to do something.


Haksabanovic returned from an underwhelming loan stint at the Potters in the summer realising that the writing was more or less on the wall.

He said: "The first thing I said to Brendan [last year] was, 'If you give me a valid chance to give me a place in the team, I will do everything you say and work hard. If you tell me to run 10 laps around the pitch, it doesn't matter I will do it if you give me a fair chance.' But in the summer, I didn't speak with them so much because I knew a little bit how they felt and in the end, it was more like a decision from both me and them."


Malmo put their faith in the talented attacker by making Haksabanovic their most expensive signing of the summer. But the former West Ham man raised eyebrows among the green-and-white faithful by claiming in a subsequent interview that his departure was mostly down to Rodgers "because the board wanted me to stay."



Asked to clarify his comments, Haksabanovic explained: "The thing I can say is when Brendan came, he wanted other players to play in front of me. He said clearly, and I respect that, that I was not in his plans to play.

"So I would be out of the squad. But the board was like, 'No, we want you to stay here because we think you can take a place in the team.' So it was different stuff from both of them. Also, it didn't make sense why he subbed me on during two games where we were losing and needed points. He subbed me on when he already told me I wasn't in his plans. So the things he did and what he said didn't make sense to me.

"As I'm saying now, the board said no to everything they had on the table. And then in the end, I told them my head wasn't there anymore and the best thing for me was to go and play."


Although Haksabanovic's time in Scotland was cut short earlier than he planned, he holds no grudges and remains immensely proud having represented one of Europe's biggest clubs. Being part of an historic Treble-winning team and getting his first taste of Champions League football is something that will live with him forever.

He said: "Every time I look back when sometimes you have a bad day, you think about these days. Those were my first trophies at senior level. I'm very happy with that. It was special. Everybody in the team had a good relationship. Even if there were people from around the world, everybody was going well with everyone. We had something special in the dressing room as well, not only on the pitch."


So how does he sum up his time with Celtic? "My first season, I'm happy with that. Of course, I wanted to play more. I'm very proud that I can say I played for Celtic in my career



It's one of the biggest clubs in Europe. Everybody in the world knows who Celtic are. Everywhere I've gone in the world, it's like 'You've played for Celtic!' I'm proud that I can say that I've played for Celtic. I have some Celtic shirts at home and pictures that I'm very proud of."

Now playing for the most successful team in Sweden, Haksabanovic hopes to kickstart his career with Malmo and fulfil his true potential.

He added: "Right now, I feel the best I've ever felt in regards to mind. When I'm not injured, I'm hungrier than ever. In my mind, I've learned so much throughout the years. I'm the best place in my mind where I can be right now and I'm hungrier than ever. So score many goals, make lots of assists and hopefully win silverware."

 

Nothing against the guy, just wanted to play football for someone somewhere. Hopefully he can make something of his career at Malmo.

 

He had flashes of being brilliant, just something missing within him I think for consistency or to take it to the next level. He’ll go on to stay in the Swedish league or a level like that and do well continuously but can’t see him in a big league ever again

 

Lol the interview with Football Scotland. Its so obvious they phoned him in hope that he would trash talk Celtic. Which he did not to Football Scotlands dissapointment.

 

Thought we’d won a watch getting him on the cheap from Russia, but he was just never the right fit for us. Never really had a proper place in the team and when he did get a chance generally he didn’t really take it other than a few good moments.

 

Interesting that he sort of blames the board for refusing to let him leave, hinting him and Rodgers was fine with him moving on.



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NOT many players have been as unfortunate as Sead Haksabanovic.

The former Celtic star has made just three sub appearances for Malmo since his £1.7million move back to Sweden last summer due to various injury problems


And his nightmare spell on the sidelines all stems from when he was at Stoke City last season - on loan from Celtic.

Haksabanovic, 25, was in and out of action during his season-long down south stint with an unusual groin pain after first suffering the setback in November 2023.

It was a persistent problem for the winger but he continued to play through the pain barrier, later revealing he never managed to get over the injury until he left the club.

The wide-man finally called it a day at Celtic when he returned from his stint and it took him weeks to get up to fitness when he eventually left for Malmo last June.

Now Haksabanovic has opened up on his injury * and has revealed his agony when Celtic and Stoke were trying to get to the bottom of the mysterious pain.

He was sent to see a specialist who wanted to cut off a part of his groin to solve the issue but Haksabanovic wasn't convinced at the time that it was the right solution.

And he turned out to be correct as he actually required an inguinal hernia repair - an open surgery to push the lump back into the abdomen which strengthened the stomach.

Speaking to Aftonbladet, he said: "He (the doctor) thought I should cut off a piece of the groin, which we didn't think sounded good. So it's lucky they didn't do it


The groin wasn't the problem. So that would have been stupid.

"The players have been very supportive. The physio team and management have also been understanding as many on the team have been injured before."


Haksabanovic became Malmo's record signing when he joined the club last year.

But the winger is still waiting to showcase his talents and repay the club for the large fee they spent


And he is back on the sidelines once again after catching an infection this month.

He said: "I had mycoplasma. I've never been as sick as I was then. I have been sick for three weeks.

"It got to the point that I couldn't sleep at night because I was coughing so much.

"Of course it has been sad. You know that they (Malmo) have invested a lot of money in me and you want to give something back and do what you are good at

"I am good on the pitch. But injuries are part of football and it has helped me to get into the team in a different way.

 

Oof dodged a bullet there!

 

Despite being just 25 years of age, winger Sead Haksabanovic has had an eventful footballing career – both on and off the pitch.


The Sweden-born Montenegro international has been around, playing for nine teams in under 10 years as a professional, including two years (one full season) at Celtic from 2022-24 – under Ange Postecoglou and Brendan Rodgers.

Now back in the country of his birth at Swedish champions Malmo, the entertaining wide-man spoke to The Celtic Way’s Ryan McGinlay about his career thus far, including his treble-winning exploits in Glasgow – as well as why he left



Early career promise
Born in Sweden to Montenegrin parents, Haksabanovic was a promising youth player at Halmstads BK, who he joined at the age of six. Making his professional debut for the same club at just 15, he became the youngest player in the team’s history to do so – a 3-0 home loss against future employer IFK Norrkoping.

Because of this early start in senior football, the forward attracted attention from some of England’s biggest clubs, who took him on trial. Indeed, he was observed by both Manchester clubs, Chelsea, Aston Villa and Liverpool, two years before making the move to West Ham United in 2017.

Haksabanovic looked back on these trial periods positively, as they gave him the hunger to progress. He said: “It was a good experience to see how football was in the academies outside of Sweden and experience that higher tempo.

You came out to these big names, played with better players, and just learned something new every day. Every day you were there, you saw how big the academies are. Just by trying a new environment, it was good as a young guy.”

“When I was really young, I watched Ronaldinho a lot - he inspired me. I thought he was brilliant, a magician with the ball. When I was growing up, I would say Eden Hazard, Neymar and Cristiano Ronaldo were my influences as well.”

Though none of these teams opted to sign Haksabanovic, he impressed back in Sweden with Halmstads BK, which prompted the aforementioned West Ham to sign him on a five-year deal back in 2017. He would make two appearances for the Hammers, before going out on loan at Malaga and Norrkoping, who would sign him permanently following a successful spell.




Haksabanovic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict
After another good year in Sweden’s Allsvenskan, Russia’s Rubin Kazan would come calling, though his time at the club would be short-lived, thanks to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Because of this, FIFA adopted a temporary suspension of contracts for players closest to the conflict, with Haksabanovic shipped back to Sweden for a third time.

Speaking about playing football in Russia when tensions were rising, Haksabanovic recalled how he and his loved ones coped with the situation. He said: “For me, it was a weird life situation of course, because I've never been through it before, so I didn't know really what to do.

“My family was scared of something happening to me, like maybe not being able to come back home and stuff like that. It was just a weird situation to be in as a footballer. You don't know really what's the best thing to do. On the one hand, you want to stay there and give everything to the club, but on the other hand, you need to think about your family and your life outside of football.

“As much as I love football and as much as it's the most important thing in my life, there are things more important than football, of course.



Signing for Celtic
After spending time in Sweden with Djurgardens IF, interest concerning a permanent move came in the form of Celtic, then managed by Postecoglou. Looking to strengthen ahead of the Champions League campaign, a bid was lodged for the player to Kazan, who allowed the player to leave, shortly followed by teammate Oliver Abildgaard, who signed on loan on Deadline Day.

A belief that has been corroborated by many players signed during his tenure at Celtic was that Postecoglou’s calls to players prior to their signing were make-or-break concerning their ultimate arrival at the club.

Haksabanovic remembered his call with the now-Tottenham Hotspur manager, though he admitted that his heart was already set on a move to the Scottish champions when the two spoke in 2022. He said: “To be honest, he did not have to say much.

“To play for a club for Celtic, as big as Celtic is, was just a big honour for me. He just told me that the club likes the way I play; they see a plan in me, and he wants me to be there. I was buzzing when I heard that Celtic were interested. I was just happy to be a part of such a big club.

“I joined Celtic because they fight to win the league, win trophies and play in Europe every season in the Champions League, but I also joined to be a part of Celtic, I think. It is a big club, and if you do well there, then you have a lot of options to maybe take a further step, even if playing at Celtic for your whole career would be a big thing.

“Mainly, it was about fighting for trophies and feeling that environment with the fans at a big club, which it is.”



Celtic’s new Swedish successor
Despite being the first Montenegrin (in terms of national team) to sign for Celtic, his Swedish background made him the latest in a long line of players from that nation to have appeared for the club. Needless to say, it did not take long for Haksabanovic to realise what Scandinavian player the Celtic support idolised most – even after 20 years.

The winger was under no illusions that he was following in the footsteps of some greats at the club. He said: “As a Swede - as I was born and raised there, you know Henrik Larsson was a big player at Celtic. When I arrived, I saw how big he was, still. He is like a * over there!

“Mikael Lustig actually wrote to me, and he said when I had signed for Celtic that if I ever needed anything, I could ask him, and he was more than happy to help me – which was so nice of him.

“As a Swedish guy growing up and seeing these players, you know Celtic from a young age.”




Debut days in Scotland and beyond
Signing just before the end of the window, Haksabanovic did not have to wait long before his first appearance for Celtic, a League Cup match against Ross County up in Dingwall. From his new manager, the message was clear: Express yourself.

Haksabanovic said: “Postecoglou wished me luck before I was subbed on and told me to enjoy the environment and the supporters. Looking back, every away game felt like a home game when I played for Celtic, because they were always full of supporters, and you could hear them the most in the stadium.

"For me, I was just thinking about going into the game and just letting loose and doing what I do best, which is to go in, do something different and change the game."

The forward would make his Champions League debut against Real Madrid at Celtic Park before starting for the first time away from home against Shakhtar Donetsk. Although never a consistent starter in his time at the club, he did enjoy some high moments, especially before the World Cup.



A nice November
Voted the Scottish Premiership Player of the Month for November, he thrived on both wings – his highlight being a brace against Dundee United at Celtic Park. Admittedly, however, the Winter World Cup in Qatar seemed to curtail – and even permanently halt – his progress at the club.

Haksabanovic agreed with this viewpoint – to a certain extent. He said: “I would say so, but I also would not say that, maybe?

“I don't know if I would start the games anyway because I think Daizen Maeda was injured the games I started, but it did give me an opportunity to come in and start most of the games in November. After that, I really didn't get the chance to start many games in a row.

"I had, I think, some starts, but not really two or three games in a row. So I think it's hard for a football player, especially when you're a footballer who needs to make a difference in the game, where you haven't started in a long time, then you start one game and then on the bench again.

“You need that consistency of starting some games in a row to get your form up.”



Haksabanovic now has fans
On that specific Dundee United game (Celtic won 4-2), Haksabanovic said: “It was incredible. I thought I was offside, so I didn’t really celebrate too early. Once I spotted that the linesman had not raise his flag, then I knew I had scored my first goal for Celtic.

“It was a special feeling, you know? Firstly, by hearing the crowd, and then when they put my song on the speakers, too. It was an unbelievable feeling.

“Getting a song just for you was incredible – that is why I gave the fans some dance moves back! I like to dance outside of football, but it was nice because they cheered while I was dancing too.

“It became something very nice between me and the fans


Postecoglou’s departure + his successor
That season was to be a historic one for the club and their manager, as Celtic lifted another domestic treble – their fourth in seven seasons. Because of this success, Postecoglou was courted and persuaded to leave the club for the Premier League and Spurs down south. After much speculation, former manager Rodgers returned to Celtic for his second stint in charge of the club.

Despite playing a similar brand of attacking football, Haksabanovic immediately noticed the difference in coaching styles between the incumbent and his predecessor. He said: “With Ange, you did not want to not give 100 per cent because you would hear all about it from him – his winning mentality was incredible.

“It felt like Brendan was more about working individually with the players than what Ange was – though there was not really much difference between the two managers in terms of tactics.

“I think just the mentality Ange had was different for me.”


Regrets with Rodgers
With new managers come fresh ideas, and Haksabanovic’s stop-start Celtic career was to be one of the major casualties concerning Rodgers’ arrival back in the summer of 2023.

Though he featured in some of the friendlies, as well as a League Cup defeat to Kilmarnock at Rugby Park, the Montenegro international could tell that his days at the club were numbered – a reality Rodgers alerted him to from very early on. He said: “He told me, even before Kilmarnock that I was not a part of his plan going forward.

“In the first games of the season, I was not even in the squad, but then Oh Hyeon-gyu picked up an injury, so I was on the bench, despite the manager telling me I was not in his plans. I explained to him that I was 24, and that I needed to play, either on loan or on a permanent transfer – I needed to think about myself and getting game time.

“He said he would help me with that, but I did not feel like I got the help from him that he promised me – while the board were saying one thing, and he was saying another thing. It was mixed signals for me, so I did not really know what was going on, as the board did not want to accept any of the bids from other teams that were on the table.

“The moment of realisation was when we played Athletic Club for James Forrest’s testimonial, and the manager switched the whole team, but I didn’t play. I knew that I would not get any minutes, so I looked to leave on loan to get some game time, in order to come back a better player.

“I wanted to be at Celtic and play for Celtic, but when the manager told me that I was not part of his plan, I got sad – but that’s football, and you need to keep going




THAT Instagram post
Perhaps many supporters’ lasting memory of Haksabanovic was his social media update following that defeat to Kilmarnock in the League Cup.

Now deleted by the player, the Instagram post featured a black-and-white picture of Haksabanovic being consoled by Oh, including a caption that said: “If they don’t see your value, maybe you’re not at the right place,”

While Haksabanovic has no regrets about the post – which was liked by several of his former teammates at the time – he admitted that this was a tough time in his career, which he felt needed a quick resolution. He said: “This was the last thing that I could do in order for Celtic to let me leave, I think.

“It was not a frustration towards Brendan or the board, but they were saying no to everything. I even told them that it was better if they let me leave rather than have me stay at the club and not be in the squad for games.

"If I was put out on loan and got the game-time that I needed, then I could have got back and fought for my place, because I told the club that if I had the same chance as playing as the other guys, then I would stay and fight for my place.

“Unfortunately, that was not the case. I went on loan to Stoke City, which started well, and I won Player of the Month, before getting injured, which made me lose any consistency I had built up.


Injury issues
At the time of writing, Haksabanovic is preparing for the start of the 2025 Allsvenskan season with Malmo, having made just three appearances in the second half of the last campaign for the eventual champions of Sweden. He has already equalled that total in the Svenska Cupen (Swedish Cup), having made three substitute appearances so far.

Now clear of his injury worries, he has reasons to be grateful to Malmo for getting to the route of the problem – something that was an off-field issue for the player last season. He said: “Last year, I met a specialist in London who said I needed to cut off a bit of my groin, which turned out not to be the case because I met someone else who said there was no problem with it.

“I had what they call a ‘sports hernia’, where it is not the groin, but rather something else, but the pain was in the groin. At Malmo, I found out about that, and the team took care of it. I had to undergo an operation, which went well, and now I am back.

Unfortunately, however, I was injured for the game against Rangers in the Europa League – I would have loved to have played them again



Haksabanovic’s Celtic verdict
Though he was only at the club as a first-team player for a little over a year, Haksabanovic has nothing but positive words to say concerning his biggest career move to date, despite his mixed experiences. “I loved my time there”, he said.

“I loved playing for Celtic and loved living in Glasgow. I also loved the environment of playing at Celtic Park and the training at Lennoxtown.

“I just loved being a part of the club