Luis Palma’s agent is ‘happy’ to see the Celtic winger reach the Champions League stage while insisting that a player who dreams of playing for Real Madrid can ‘go as far as he wants’.
Football really can be cruel, at times.
Luis Palma found that out the hard way. What would have been a maiden Champions League goal – and a brilliantly taken one at that – ruled out after a lengthy celebration and an even lengthier VAR review, before Lazio went down the other end and netted a stoppage-time winner.
The summer signing from Aris, at least, went some way to exercising the ghosts of Lazio with a another gorgeous finish against Kilmarnock over the weekend, Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers hailing the increasingly ‘excellent’ performances of a player who had spent much of the window being linked with Rangers before joining the other Old Firm club (STV).
Luis Palma impressing at Celtic already
“He is a boy who I have known since he was 17,” agent Paulo Hernandez beams, speaking to Honduran website Diez. “I have made a journey with him, and the credit goes to the footballer and his family.
“It makes me happy to see him debut in the Champions League as a starter. Wat Luis has achieved has a lot of merit. I imagine that it is also a source of pride for his surroundings and the country (Honduras).”
Palma, who set Celtic back a cool £3.5 million in August, dreams of one day pulling on the gleaming white shirt of Real Madrid. And while the 23-year-old has a long way to go before he is following in the footsteps of his idol Cristiano Ronaldo, Hernandez insists that there are no barriers to Palma’s progress.
“He is going to go as far as he wants. I remember that when (former coach) Mono Burgos said goodbye to Luis, he told him’; ‘Luis, you are going to go as far as you want’,” the agent adds.
“He is a very professional boy, he believes in his abilities, so he will go as far as he wants. At those levels it is the ability, we cannot forget that 18 months ago he was playing for (Honduran outfit) Vida and, last week, he made his debut in the Champions League.”
Real Madrid dreams
That £3.5 million deal made Palma – who courted interest from over 10 clubs from a variety of different countries before settling at Parkhead – the fourth-most expensive Honduran footballer in history.
“For Hondurans, it is one of the most important (transfers) in recent times,” Hernandez adds. “In economic terms, obviously Luis’s will be among the top four or five in the history of Honduran football.”
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