Mika Baur's Ambition at Celtic: Aiming for Champions League Success

Mika Baur has barely walked through the door at Celtic, but his eyes are already fixed on the brightest lights the club can offer.

The 22-year-old midfielder has completed his move from German side Paderborn to Glasgow in time to be involved in next week’s Champions League play-off against Austrian side LASK – and he makes no secret of what drew him north.

“I think it’s the best next step,” Baur said, laying out his ambition without fuss. “It’s a great club, it’s a big club. You play in front of a big crowd, you’re dominating the league.

“You have the international games, the Champions League matches at night on the big stage. I want to show the people and also myself that I’m ready for that. So, yeah, I think it’s the right move.”

The deal took a little longer than expected to be finalised, but once it was done, the relief was obvious. Celtic get a young, technically sharp midfielder at the start of his career’s next chapter; Baur gets the platform he craved.

And that platform could come into focus very quickly.

Baur is in contention to make his debut in Saturday’s League Cup tie against Dundee United, a potentially gentle first taste of Scottish football before the intensity of European nights kicks in. It would be a quick introduction to a support he is already trying to address directly.

Asked what fans can expect, he did not hesitate.

“I’m really good on the ball,” he said. “I think I developed myself and my game off the ball last season. So, I’m running a lot, I’m fighting, but I want to be a playmaker, I want the ball at my feet.

“That’s what they [coaches] expect from me and that’s what you guys can also expect – that I try my best and leave my heart on the field every time.”

For Celtic, it is another young signing hungry for the Champions League stage. For Baur, those first steps in green and white could come as early as the weekend, with the floodlights and that “big stage” he talks about already looming into view.