Midfielder delivers scathing verdict about his time at Celtic after being shipped out on loan again following a nightmare spell with injury
The 23-year-old midfielder moved to Glasgow in the summer of 2023 under Brendan Rodgers in a £2.6m deal from Valerenga but has found it difficult to make an impact over the past three seasons, with his first-team opportunities proving limited.
Holm has made just 16 appearances across all competitions to date for the Hoops, scoring once. He headed Stateside in January 2025 to join MLS side Los Angeles FC but played just five times before suffering a string of injury setbacks - most notably an ankle problem. Last October, Holm revealed that the severity of the muscle issue has left him feeling “half paralysed”.
Once regarded as one of Norway’s brightest emerging talents after being listed alongside elite talents like Jamal Musiala and Florian Wirtz on The Guardian’s 'Next Generation' list, Holm’s career has been disrupted to such an extent that he hinted that he had fallen out of love with football.
Holm: ‘Glasgow is a tough city’
Now the former Norwegian youth international has re-joined boyhood club Valerenga on a temporary basis for the rest of the calendar year and admitted the lack of game time at Parkhead also made his experience more challenging.
Speaking on the VG podkast, Holm stated: “I've missed being here (Valerenga). I've been really looking forward to coming back.
“It's been tough. Glasgow is a tough city. When you don't have a social network and you end up in a situation where you're not playing football, it's hard to find many sources of joy.
“There wasn't much joy in football, and that's natural when you don't play. So my first priority is to enjoy football again. It was really good to get a session here again, the body feels good.”
Odin Thiago Holm’s career has spiralled since joining Celtic
Holm, who changed his middle name to Thiago in honour of childhood idol and former Liverpool and Barcelona star Thiago Alcantara in 2017, scored his only goal for Celtic during a rare start in a Scottish Cup tie at home to Buckie Thistle in January 2025.
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His comments don't bode well for his future with the Scottish champions, suggesting that he has already ruled out the possibility of a return despite being under contract until 2028.
He has failed to hit the heights that was expected of him, albeit much of his recent woes have been out of his control due to an unfortunate medical condition affecting his calves that left him needing to take Botox injections just to keep playing.
Should Holm start to find his feet again back in his homeland, whoever Martin O’Neill’s permanent successor may be could decide to offer him a lifeline. However, that would rely on the next manager being willing to place his trust in the midfielder.
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