I joined Celtic after snubbing West Ham and Fulham because I couldn't defend
One ex defender says he also cherishes his relationship with fans in Glasgow's East End to this day
Mikael Lustig has revealed he turned down two Premier League clubs before joining Celtic.
And the former Sweden international has nothing but fond memories for his seven-year spell in Glasgow that saw him rack up 16 winners' medals in total.
Lustig was snapped up by Neil Lennon for around £500,000 in the summer of 2011 after catching the Hoops hero's eye at Rosenborg, where he netted 21 goals from right back in 136 matches to help the Norwegian side win back-to-back league titles.
He would go onto make 273 appearances in total over the next seven years, winning eight consecutive league championships as well as four Scottish Cups and four League Cups.
And Lustig - who played at one World Cup and three European Championships across his 96 caps for Sweden - reckons turning down more lucrative offers from England's top league in order to join a club competing for trophies helped him create a special relationship with supporters at Parkhead.
Speaking to fotbollskanalen, he said: "I had the chance to go to West Ham and Fulham when I was at Rosenborg.
"But they were two teams that were in the Championship one year, then the Premier League one year and were fighting at the bottom.
"At that time, I really couldn't defend. I couldn't go there and then just defend, then I would be completely depressed. When I chose, it was really that I needed to go to a team that was fighting at the top and won many matches, because that was the offensive game I had.
"Only in the last few years that I started to focus on money. When you felt that 'now is a good time to collect the last few marbles'. Before, I didn't really care about what was in the salary envelope, but it was more that I was going to a club that played offensive football."
Asked about Celtic fans, the 38-year-old, who retired in 2022 after spells with Gent and AIK - replied: "There is a great love between us.
"Above all, it is such an incredibly big club. Everyone who goes there says that Celtic is a big club, but I don't think people really understand (how big the club is, ed.).
"When you're there and especially when you go abroad, it doesn't matter if it's in the US or Spain, there are always Irish pubs where you see people wearing Celtic shirts. Then you realise that it's not just in Glasgow that people talk about Celtic. The club is very big
"It's after your career that you can sit back and really feel "I won eight league titles and another eight cup titles". Then you feel proud. Especially when you see that there aren't many people who have won that much at Celtic.
"But when you're in it and when you talk to football people it's often: 'You play at Celtic, it doesn't matter. You're going to win titles'.
"There was a bit of that feeling too when you were playing, another title maybe didn't mean much. But when you've stopped playing football and can really say "I won 16 titles at Celtic"... It's impressive."