Just one mention of Harry Kane’s name spreads a grin as wide as the Clyde across Jeffrey Schlupp ’s face.
Not that the Celtic new boy reckons facing the Bayern Munich hitman is any laughing matter. Even as a team mates at Leicester 12 years ago the England skipper caused Schlupp a whole lot of pain in training. As opponents in the Premier League playground the battle was fierce.
But Schlupp isn’t one for shying away from a challenge. He’s stored that hurt and is desperate for a chance to repay it. In fact, the prospect of coming up against his old mate and rival on the biggest stage European football has to offer was one of the main reasons the 32-year-old packed his bags at Palace and headed for Parkhead with just hours to spare on deadline day.
Schlupp revealed the call from Celtic never arrived until 2pm on Monday with just nine hours remaining for clubs to do business. But once he heard of Brendan Rodgers’ interest there was no holding back the man who has well over 200 Premier League appearances under his belt at Palace and Leicester.
He’s in Glasgow for a short time. But four months is long enough to make memories for a lifetime. And having helped create one fairytale in his only previous taste of the Champions League with Leicester he sees no reason not to believe he can now help pen another with the Hoops.
Starting when Kane and co land in Glasgow next Wednesday night. Asked what his experience of facing the Munich goal machine was, Schlupp grinned: “Not fun… not fun at all!
“Top player, one of the best strikers in the world. I actually played with Harry Kane years back at Leicester when he came on loan, and even from then you could see his finishing ability was of different class.
“But we look forward to it. He’s a top striker, he’s definitely caused me some pain previously, but hopefully we can return the favour and beat him. It was a long time ago, to be fair, when he did come to Leicester, but just from playing against him anyway as adults and senior pros, you know what to expect.
“He’s clinical in the box, his passing range, he’s different class, so we’ll have to keep a close eye on him. It’s going to be difficult to keep him out, as it is for any team in the world, so tough job, but we’ll definitely see what we can do.”
Alongside Hoops team mate Kasper Schmeichel, Schlupp was a key member of Sven-Goran Eriksson’s Leicester side that created a modern day fairytale to lift the Premier League title nine years ago. He made three appearances in the Champions League the following season and helped the Foxes qualify from the group stage before moving to Palace in the January.
That switch meant he missed out on another remarkable run that took Leicester to the quarter final of the Champions League before bowing out to Atletico Madrid. This time he’s joined the Hoops with the groundwork having been done as they prepare to step into the knockout stages for the first time in a dozen years.
The German-born Ghana international says he will have family travelling from Hamburg to cheer the Hoops on in the Allianz Arena for the return leg. And he sees no reason why they can’t ‘do a Leicester’ and go deeper into the competition.
He said: “Yeah, for sure, just like my last campaign in the Champions League, we were probably the underdog every game, so we proved a lot of people wrong with the performances and results. And again, why not do it?
“I think we lost in the quarter-final that year. It was another great campaign, We won four and lost just one of the group games, and then obviously got through to the quarter final. It was actually a great experience for me personally in the competition, and hopefully we can get past the play-off and see what happens after that.
“Everyone watches the Champions League. I’ve watched Celtic play the games they have this season, and before coming here I knew they had the game against Bayern Munich, which was again a big sell. It’s a great moment for the club, great opportunity to go and do something special, which we’re definitely going to try and do.”
It’s not just the continental fare that’s got Schlupp salivating though. HIs Premier League and Championship gongs won with Leicester will always have a special place in his cabinet. But he’s desperate to add to the collection in his short time in Glasgow.
An 18-minute cameo in Wednesday’s 6-0 thrashing of Dundee gave him a taste of Parkhead. Now he wants more special memories – including ticking off a “bucket list” Champions League experience at Parkhead.
He said: “Everyone’s saying it’s a whole other level. It’s almost like a bucket list moment, obviously, to play at such an iconic stadium for such an iconic club.
“The plan for the club this season, to win every competition that we’re in, that was another sell for coming here. The pressures of winning every game, winning trophies, that’s something I want to be a part of, and hopefully we can do that this season.
“Wednesday was great. It was obviously something I was looking forward to as soon as I come up here, I just wanted to feel that atmosphere for the first time. Again, great performance to go with it as well with the 6-0 win. So it was an easy game to get introduced to. Hopefully more of the same on Saturday and then we can go from there.”
Schlupp admits deadline day was a whirlwind. But the chance to work with Rodgers – who he missed by a year at Leicester – was too good to turn down.
He said: “It’s been a whirlwind. There was obviously a link to a few clubs, you know, with my situation at Crystal Palace at the time, so I was looking to hopefully get something done.
“My agent’s told me, just stay by your phone. And then when he messaged me about Celtic early afternoon, it just moved really quick from there, really. So, said they were interested, contacted the clubs, they all agreed everything in the background, and then everything was up to me in the end, and again, it was an easy sell.
“As soon as I knew everything was sorted between the clubs, it was pretty easy. I just wanted to know what I needed to do, where I needed to be, and we got everything done.
“Every single conversation we’ve had has just made me more and more excited about being here, and before I came here, obviously he just sold the club to me. It was a pretty easy decision once the interest came.
“Obviously everyone knows what he’s done in the game, he’s managed big clubs, he’s won trophies, so again, to play under a manager of his calibre is obviously something great for me, even later on in my career.
“There’s still so much to learn obviously, and to learn it from one of the best coaches I’ve had, it’s going to be great for me.”