Cameron Carter-Vickers has watched a revolving door of big-money stars leave Celtic. This summer alone, he waved goodbye to Daizen Maeda and Arne Engels. Last year, it was Nicolas Kuhn and Kyogo Furuhashi.
But in his sixth season in Glasgow, the big American has made it clear he has no plans to follow them out of Parkhead. CCV has been a colossus since joining from Tottenham in 2021 and is regularly mentioned in the same breath as legends Johan Mjallby and Bobo Balde when fans debate the club's best defenders of the last 25 years.
Happy in Scotland
But amid the constant turnover of players around him, Carter-Vickers insists he has found a home in Scotland. And after missing a huge chunk of last term with an Achilles injury, the serial-winning stopper has a burning motivation to fire Celtic back into the Champions League.
He said: "I think as a player, as a team, you want to compete against the best teams, the best players in the world. And the Champions League gives you an opportunity to do that. Obviously, within the squad now, there are players that have played in it before and players that haven't. But I think for all of us, we want to be there again and just have the chance really to show what you can do against the best."
"I'm very happy here. To be honest, being out for so long last year did kind of make me miss it and probably gave me a little bit more extra motivation for coming into this season. So, yes, I'm happy and just looking forward to this season really."
Kairat pain forgotten
Carter-Vickers needs no reminding of Celtic's Kairat Almaty nightmare. The shock exit cast a shadow over much of last season as fans turned their anger on the board. But with new Bhoys Camilo Duran and Kasper Hogh already making an impact, Carter-Vickers is determined there will be no repeat.
Asked if the pain of Kairat hung around, he said: "I think it did at the time, maybe for a few weeks or so. But at this point in time, that's long gone. That's forgotten about to a certain extent. And I think as a professional, that's how you've got to be. You can't dwell on the lows too much. You can't get too high with the highs. You've just got to take each game as it comes and get ready for the next one."
"But at the same time, you don't want to have that again. Are we desperate to avoid that feeling again? Yeah, 100 per cent. And even if we won that kind of tie last time, we would want to win this tie. The point I'm making is obviously it's disappointing, but there's just no time to dwell on it. That's kind of the mindset that I have."
Squad in better shape
Although Martin O'Neill was unable to land a replacement for Arne Engels before last night's Euro deadline, Carter-Vickers believes the Hoops are in better shape than they were at the same stage last year under Brendan Rodgers. He said: "Trying to think back to that point in time, if you look at the squad now compared to that you'd probably say we're probably slightly in a better place. I think the signings we have made have definitely hit the ground running and are showing their quality."
Celtic will be banking on £17m pair Hogh and Duran to cause havoc against Austrian champions LASK in tonight's first leg. And Carter-Vickers has already seen enough to know they can hurt the visitors. He said: "They're both good players, you see the quality they have, obviously slightly different strikers. I think obviously Camilo's only played competitively anyway on the wing for us, so he can do that as well. I think Kasper's more kind of an out-and-out number nine. So yeah, it's been good."
Carter-Vickers has played every minute of Celtic's opening three games since returning from an agonising nine-month injury lay-off. The 28-year-old has formed a solid partnership with compatriot Auston Trusty but admits he is still chasing full fitness. He said: "Having been out for so long, I probably don't quite feel physically at 100 per cent yet. Obviously not in terms of injury, I'm fine, but just in terms of regaining fitness and sharpness. But I think that's something that any player deals with throughout the course of a season. There are always ups and downs physically as you go throughout a season."
"I think especially with Achilles, it's kind of like a spring. So it's just natural that it takes a bit of time to get that last one, two, three per cent back. But yeah, I do feel like I'm in a good place as it is. I don't think any player's ever happy. They're always trying to push them for more and trying to get more out of themselves."
Carter-Vickers will come up against prolific American powerhouse Samuel Adeniran - who has netted five goals in four games so far. And the defender is relishing a physical battle against his fellow countryman. He added: "We watched a bit of them today and they definitely look like a physical side. A lot of athletes in the team, so it'll definitely be a challenge for us and a tough game. Obviously they've got bits of quality as well, so it'll be a tough tie for us."
"You've just got to deal with what's in front of you. All different types of strikers give different types of problems and sometimes the big ones can be a bit tricky to play against, but it's something that I enjoy and I'm looking forward to."
