Ex-Fulham product Osmand has followed a well trodden path from Craven Cottage to Celtic Park

Callum Osmand is the latest in a conveyor belt of talent from Craven Cottage to join Celtic.

Ex-Fulham prodcuts Moussa Dembele, Patrick Roberts and Matt O’Riley all became household names during their trophy-laden spells at Parkhead. Now, rising star Osmand hopes to follow in their footsteps and carve out a legacy of his own in Glasgow.

The 20-year-old has already etched his name into Hoops folklore with his iconic title-clinching goal to shatter Hearts last season. And the English superkid tormented the Jambos all over again at the weekend, bagging a first-half brace in Celtic’s stunning 7-1 rout.

Remarkably, it was the attacker’s first senior start. But after battling back from another hamstring injury, Osmand is determined to nail down a regular place in Martin O’Neill’s starting line-up.

And while he has huge boots to fill if he is to match the achievements of Treble-winners Dembele, Roberts and O’Riley, Osmand reckons his Celtic career is ready to take off.

He said: “If I could get even close to them, I’d be doing an amazing job. I did speak to Matt before coming up. He gave me a ring. He was at Fulham and I spoke to a few Fulham coaches and managed to get his number and we had a chat.

“He’s a great guy. He was telling me about the ins and outs, basically about how crazy it is up here. Then Moussa, I’ve watched the majority of his goals in there. He was a joke.

“Have I been in touch with Matt since? No, I probably should message him to be honest, but he’s probably a very busy guy. He’s got a busy schedule as well, so I’m not surprised.”

Osmand could be unleashed from the start again tonight as Celtic face Celta Vigo in a crucial Europa League clash. A natural-born striker, the youngster showed his versatility by filling in on the left wing against Hearts and Benfica.

And he could yet emerge as an unlikely successor to Daizen Maeda as Celts search for a solution to the gaping hole left by the Japanese dynamo.

Osmand said: “Now you’ve said that, Daizen would be probably the main guy that I would - he messages me a lot to be fair. Every time I score he’ll message me or every time he scores or does something I’ll give him a message.

“He’s a really nice guy so he would be one that I would like to mould it off, his running, his running power, and his runs in behind. That is something I admire so that would be someone who I would base it off.

“It is a big hole to fill for him. He offered a lot to the club and a lot to that position and across the striker position he was brilliant. Like the last seven games, I think he scored in every one. He’s been amazing so it’s hard to replicate what he brought.”

Duracell Bunny Maeda built his reputation on relentless running, boundless energy and an unrivalled work ethic.

And Osmand admitted matching those levels will be no easy feat, joking: “That’s a big ask, you know? I don’t know if you’ll see me yet running back the whole way. I give my all every game, so hopefully if I can get more minutes in the legs I can do something like that.”