Joel Mvuka Returns to Bodo/Glimt After Celtic Spell

Joel Mvuka has drawn a line under his brief and stuttering spell at Celtic by signing a four-year deal with Bodo/Glimt – and openly conceding he arrives back in Norway short of game time but not short of belief.

The 23-year-old winger joined Celtic on loan from Lorient last season with the usual fanfare that comes with a quick wide player landing in Glasgow. The impact never followed. One start, in a Scottish Cup tie against Dundee. A cameo off the bench in a Glasgow derby win over Rangers at Ibrox in the same competition. No Premiership minutes at all.

For a player in his early twenties, that sort of season bites.

“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,” Mvuka told The National, reflecting on a campaign that never really caught fire in green and white.

He returned to Lorient in the summer, his Celtic chapter effectively closed before it had truly begun. Now he has chosen the familiar embrace of Bodo/Glimt, the club where he previously broke through and built his reputation, as the place to restart his career.

Back where it worked

If Celtic was a false start, Glimt is the reset button.

Mvuka, who previously enjoyed a strong spell with the Norwegian champions, believes the detour through Scotland and France has still moved him forward.

“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.”

He talks about the club not just as an employer, but as a place that felt like home before he left.

“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.”

Glimt’s rise, his chance

While Mvuka was struggling for minutes in Glasgow, Bodo/Glimt kept climbing. Domestically dominant, increasingly streetwise in Europe, they have grown into a side with serious continental ambitions.

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

That progress is a major part of the attraction. Regular football in a team that wants to push deep into Europe is exactly what a stalled career needs.

“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.”

The message is clear: the minutes he missed at Celtic now have to be made up in yellow. The talent that flickered in Norway before his move abroad will be judged on whether it can burn brighter a second time around.