Like many others in the Celtic squad, Luis Palma is spending the early part of the summer break preparing with his international team for upcoming matches.
Honduras have big World Cup qualifiers against Cuba and Bermuda to contend with over the coming week and Palma has been busy at a training camp.
Palma’s spell at Celtic has been big news amongst football supporters in his homeland. It’s still rare for Honduran players to become regular performers in Europe with just a handful from each generation making it.
As a result, the Bhoys winger is looked up to by his fellow countrymen as an example to follow. And Palma has made a strong impact on one of his new international teammates.
Francisco Martinez could make his debut for the country at the age of 31 and he’s been speaking to newspaper La Prensa about a Celtic gift he received from Palma.
Luis Palma takes a piece of Celtic home with him
The midfielder said [translated via DeepL]: “These are unique moments for me, which will remain with me for the rest of my life. I am happy to play with each one of them, happy to play with Anthony Lozano and Luis Palma.
“Last night I was talking to him (Palma), sometimes you have the concept of a person, but when it comes to him it’s different. I got chills when I was talking to him, to see a player who is playing in Europe, the Champions League, and for me to share with him is priceless.
“It gives me goosebumps to be living this dream – he gave me that Celtic shirt, and it will remain as a souvenir and forever with me.”
Palma will hope for a more consistent second Celtic season
There was always going to be an adjustment period for Palma at Celtic. His first campaign had its ups and downs – he will be keen to kick on and show improvement from this summer.
He actually started strongly and two goals in the Champions League against Atletico Madrid and Feyenoord served as highlights. Goals and assists were plentiful in the first half of the campaign.
That form tailed off, however, and he struggled to earn a consistent starting spot after the winter break.
His return of 10 goals and 10 assists is decent for a debut season. It suggests he can have a role to play under Brendan Rodgers but with the bar being raised at Celtic, he’ll need to show he can keep up.