Joel Mvuka Returns to Bodo/Glimt After Frustrating Celtic Spell

Joel Mvuka has drawn a firm line under his brief and stuttering spell at Celtic, admitting a lack of minutes pushed him back towards familiar ground at Bodo/Glimt.

The 23-year-old winger has signed a four-year contract with the Norwegian champions, returning to the club where he first broke through and rebuilt his reputation before his move to Lorient and then Celtic.

Celtic spell that never caught fire

Mvuka arrived in Glasgow with pace, promise and the kind of profile that usually excites the Celtic support. The impact never came.

He managed just one start for the Hoops, in the Scottish Cup against Dundee, and only one more outing off the bench – a cameo in the Glasgow derby win over Rangers in the same competition. Not a single Premiership appearance followed before he was sent back to Lorient in the summer.

For a player in his early twenties, those months mattered. They just did not involve enough football.

“I haven't played very much, but I feel like I have gained good experience even though I didn't get to play many games,” he told The National, reflecting on a season that stalled more than it soared.

Back where it worked

So he has gone back to what he knows. Back to the club where his career first gathered real momentum, and where he believes it can do so again.

“I can take that experience with me. I have also become older and more experienced and I have returned as a better player,” he said.

“It's great to be back. I'm doing well and have improved since I was last here.

“I had a pretty good time in Glimt. I made a lot of friends, had a good time both on and off the field. That's something I took into account when coming back.”

This is not a sentimental homecoming dressed up as ambition. Bodo/Glimt have grown while he has been away, and Mvuka has been watching.

“I've been following Bodo/Glimt since I left and I've seen that they've become a much better team,” he added.

Champions League carrot

The lure is obvious. Regular football, a defined role and the chance to push deep into Europe with a side that has made a habit of punching above its weight.

“It would have been cool to get into the league phase of the Champions League two years in a row. It's a good match between me and the club.”

For Celtic, Mvuka will go down as one that never quite got started. For Bodo/Glimt, his second act begins now – with the winger desperate to turn lost minutes in Scotland into full throttle in Norway.