Celtic have had just two permanent captains in the last sixteen years.

Scott Brown carried the armband with aplomb for over a decade, winning countless trophies in doing so, before handing over the reins to Callum McGregor.

In that time, several high-profile players went on to captain other clubs, such as Virgil van Dijk at Liverpool, Kieran Tierney at Arsenal and Moussa Dembele at Lyon.

Timothy Weah (Marseille)

Born and raised in New York to African football legend George, Timothy Weah was an A-list loan signing under Brendan Rodgers, arriving in January 2019.

He arrived with three senior PSG appearances to his name and quickly won fans over with his enthusiastic attitude and a debut goal in a Scottish Cup win over Airdrieonians.

He scored again on his league debut against St Mirren a few days later, but minutes quickly became hard to come by. Neil Lennon allowed him to cut his loan short early in 2019 to play at the Under-20 World Cup with the USA. He started just twice for the Hoops, scoring four times in seventeen appearances overall.

He joined LOSC Lille permanently the following season, scoring on his return to Celtic Park in the Europa League. Performances there earned him a £10 million move to Juventus in 2023. By this point, he had been completely transformed from a goalscoring forward into a hard-working wing-back.

He spent last season on loan at Marseille, one of his father’s former clubs, before making the move permanent in the summer. He was named captain a few weeks later, after incumbent skipper Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg was stripped of the armband by owner Frank McCourt for rejecting a big-money move to Newcastle whilst the club were in financial hardship.

Weah led L’OM out of the tunnel in their 2-1 win over Lens on Sunday, playing the 90 minutes at right-back.

Eoghan O’Connell (Stockport County)

This is a real name from the past. Born and raised in Cork, O’Connell emerged as one of the rising stars of the Parkhead academy during Lennon’s first spell as manager, making his debut as a teenager in 2014.

A handful more appearances followed after the arrival of Ronny Deila, before loans to Oldham Athletic and hometown club Cork City. When Rodgers was hired in 2016, the boss took a shining to his fellow Irishman.

A stunning goal in a friendly against then-Premier League champions Leicester City seemed to cement O’Connell’s place in the first-team, and Rodgers continued to speak highly of him in the media. He started the first six competitive matches of the invincible 2016-17 season, including several vital Champions League qualifiers.

After falling out of favour, he moved on loan to Walsall in the January, joining Bury permanently following the end of his contract. This was the start of an EFL career which has now spanned over 300 appearances.

After establishing himself at League One Rochdale, he made the controversial move to Hollywood-owned Wrexham in 2023, dropping down two divisions to the National League. He was a mainstay of the North Wales club’s rise to the Championship.

After being replaced by Wrexham, he moved to Barnsley and then Stockport County, where he serves as club captain under ex-boss and teammate Jimmy McNulty.

Carl Starfelt (Celta Vigo)

Of course, Carl Starfelt was denied an appearance at Celtic Park last month due to an injury absence at Celta Vigo. His side ran out 2-1 winners in the Europa League clash.

Starfelt spent just two years in Glasgow but managed to cram in 87 appearances and five trophies in that time. He was signed from Russian outfit Rubin Kazan for a fee of £4.3 million in 2021.

One of the formative early signings of the Ange Postecoglou period, he went on to establish a formidable partnership with Cameron Carter-Vickers. Despite the Aussie’s reputation for gung-ho football, the pair helped the Hoops to an exceptional defensive record.

That was despite initially being derided by some fans and pundits after shaky early performances. If his importance wasn’t clear from his time in Glasgow, it has most certainly been emphasised since his departure.

After delivering a treble in 2023, Starfelt made the move to Spain, with the Hoops recouping the exact fee they paid to bring him to Scotland. He is now closing in on 100 appearances for Celta.

He serves as a co-captain for the Galician club, wearing the armband when the ageing Iago Aspas isn’t on the pitch. He has also picked up 22 caps for Sweden, appearing at the World Cup over the summer.