New Celtic star opens up on being compared to Zlatan Ibrahimovic aged just 16 – and how he recovered from early setback
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HE was once tipped as a bigger prospect than a self-proclaimed football god.
So Benjamin Nygren could easily have allowed those comparisons with Sweden superstar Zlatan Ibrahimovic to keep him awake at night.
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Zlatan Ibrahimovic is one of Sweden's best ever players
Credit: Getty
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Benjamin Nygren was compared to Zlatan as a teenager
Credit: Getty
Instead, the school kid closed his eyes when his head hit the pillow, and started visualising dreams of his own making.
The new Celtic midfielder was just 16, and in first team at Gothenburg, when his coach told the world he was more advanced than the legendary Ibra was at the same age.
Yet there was never any danger of Nygren's ego getting out of control.
He said: 'Yeah, I noticed those stories. But I always just tried to focus on my football. I made my debut at 16, but it wasn't until I was 17 that I started to do well.
'I just started to have focus. When I was younger, I always had big dreams.
'That was to play for the Swedish national team and play in the biggest competitions for both my country and club.
'I have always had that dream. And that's the thing I am chasing every day.
'I am working as hard as I can to go as far as possible. I was at high school at the time of my debut.
'It was a huge thing, of course, but I always had that view in front of me when I was a young kid. I think most kids who play football have the same dream.
'But when I was very young I had a clear view that I wanted to be a professional football player.
Shock scenes as Celtic and Ajax fans clash during Como Cup friendly tournament in Italy
'When anyone asked me what I wanted to be I would always say a professional football player.
'They would then say, 'But what if you don't become a football player?'.
'But I would reply, 'I WILL become a football player'.
'I've always had that focus and clear view in front of me and have been working so hard from a young age to fulfil it — I knew I could do it.'
Nygren, 24, knows having that same single-mindedness is vital if he's to be successful at Celts. In his opinion, it's impossible to make the grade at the highest level of sport without it.
He added: 'I agree. For me, mindset is one of the biggest parts of being in sports in general. That's all sports, including football.
'Maybe at 16 I had a good mental focus. But I have also learned a lot in the eight years since then, and that includes the ups and the downs.
'It's been very healthy. Everyone who is in sports knows how important the mental part is.
'Of course, you need to put in the work also. But focus is really important.'
Nygren hasn't had it all his own way.
He joined Belgian side Genk for £4.5million after less than 20 top-team appearances for Gothenburg. But things didn't work out as well as he hoped.
There was a loan spell in the Netherlands with Heerenveen, before Nordsjaelland snapped him up.
It was there that he got back on track, with the Hoops pouncing when they realised he was out of contact at the end of this year and available at a cut-price fee of around £1.7m.
Nygren said: 'I have learned a lot through the years. That first time I played in front of a big audience was in Gothenburg when I was 16.
'That's a club which also has a lot of fans and very good fans. I had a really good relationship with them.
'I have played in front of big crowds many times, even though I am still pretty young. I've learned a lot during my years.'
Nygren speaks with real confidence. But it's not to be confused with arrogance.
It's just like he's got an older head on his young shoulders.
Coming to the champions of Scotland doesn't seem to have fazed him in any way.
He added: 'It's been very good so far. I've only got very good first impressions of everything, the staff, the players and the whole organisation — as well as the fans.
'It's been easy to settle in, and I've just tried to focus on my thing and showing my qualities and how good I am.
'I always feel confident of bringing that to all of the training sessions as well as the games I play.
'That's something I want to show so it's been really good and I am happy to be here.'
Nygren is also close friends with fellow Swedish international Jordan Larsson — the son of a certain Hoops legend Henrik.
He said: 'The last time I spoke with Jordan was when we were away with the national team a month ago.
'Of course, I know about his dad — the King of Kings, right?
'I have seen many YouTube clips of him scoring a lot of goals for Celtic.
'I haven't met Henrik, but Jordan is an amazing guy and he is also doing very well in his football career.'
Copenhagen striker Larsson has been linked with Celts down the years, mainly because of the family connection.
Nygren added: 'Yeah, and it's never too late, you know!
'But that's not my job. That's for the sporting director.'
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