On this evidence, Diego Laxalt is worthy of a place in Celtic’s history books.
Should the AC Milan loanee impress during his spell in Glasgow, the Hoops will have the option to sign him on a permanent basis for a cool £9 million. That would make Laxalt the joint-most expensive Celtic player of all-time, level, of course, with Odsonne Edouard.
But, if the Scottish champions decided to hand Laxalt a full-time contract today, absolutely no one would bat an eyelid.
After all, it is not every day that one of your players sets a new European record.
During Thursday’s 2-2 draw with French high-flyers Lille, Laxalt became the first man since the start of the 2015/16 season to make 13 successful tackles in a single Europa League game.
No other player has managed more than 11 in the last five years.
So if anyone was wondering why Laxalt had a contract with seven-time European champions AC Milan, not to mention 24 caps for the Uruguay national team, wonder no more.
Laxalt, in many ways, epitomised Celtic’s sweat-shedding performance at the Stade Pierre Mauroy.
Yes, Neil Lennon’s side threw away two points after Lille’s second-half fightback cancelled out that stunning Moi Elyounoussi brace but, if it wasn’t for their tireless, tenacious left-back, the Glasgow giants would be level with Sparta Prague on zero points after two games.
Laxalt’s penchant for a crunching tackle and a perfectly-timed interception kept £70 million-rated winger Jonathan Ikone on the periphery throughout. The much-admired Turkey international Zeki Celik struggled to get much change out of him either, seeing many a forward burst halted by Laxalt’s iron-clad limbs.
With just one point to their name, Celtic face an uphill battle if they are to avoid dropping out of the Europa League group-stage for the first time since 2015.
But they, like Laxalt, will not give up until the final whistle blows.
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