By Lewis Laird
On-loan Celtic goalkeeper Conor Hazard was awarded the HJK Helsinki supporters player of the year as his side lifted the league title in Finland this weekend.
It has been a top season for the Northern Ireland international, who helped his side to a sixth league title in the past seven years.
Hazard played his final league game of the campaign on Sunday evening as HJK suffered a 1-0 defeat to KuPS. However, the current Finnish champions had already delivered the title the previous week and were instead in celebration mode following the end of the match.
Not only did the 24-year-old shot-stopper celebrate his team’s success, but he was also awarded his own personal award following the match.
Hazard was awarded the player of the year by HJK Helsinki’s official supporter’s association for his contributions to the side’s title success.
Before the Finnish Champions season is officially complete, Hazard has a few more games as a loan player as they play out their final two UEFA Europa League matches against AS Roma and Real Betis across the next few weeks.
From there, it remains to be seen what the future holds for the goalkeeper, with his current contract at Celtic set to expire next summer.
Forzan valitsema @hjkhelsinki kauden 2022 pelaaja, Conor Hazard! ?⚪? #HJK #Veikkausliiga #UELfi pic.twitter.com/QDHE5VS7T0
Elsewhere, it was also a triumphant weekend for another Celtic loanee, Albian Ajeti, who was on the scoresheet for Sturm Graz.
The Swiss frontman got off the mark for the Austrian side last weekend, netting his first goal since making his move late in the summer transfer window.
After adjusting to life at his new club, Ajeti appears to be fitting in nicely as he also looks to fire them to Europa League group stage success, playing a part in a 2-2 draw with Lazio last midweek.
However, in domestic action, the Hoops attacker is having more joy in front of goal as he added his 2nd strike for Sturm Graz in his last two league starts during their win over Wolfsberger.
And it provided to be a pivotal goal in the game, ending up being the eventual winner in their 3-2 victory, with Ajeti and his side currently sitting in 2nd place, two points off RB Salzburg at the top.
Next weekend, the two sides face off in a top-of-the-table clash, and the Swiss international looks to be in good form heading into that game.
Both Hazard and Ajeti failed to make a real impact under Ange Postecoglou. So you would imagine the on-loan Celtic duo are keen to make an impression at their current clubs.
And they certainly seem to be going the right way about it at this stage, with Hazard picking up individual awards and Ajeti gaining some goalscoring momentum.
It seems almost certain that we will see both players permanently depart Parkhead in either the January window or next summer.
So, hopefully, for the sake of all parties, they can keep up their form and earn the best possible move, which will see them playing football on a regular basis once again.
In other news, Celtic confirm away ticket allocation for travelling UCL support vs Real Madrid.
{{grv_excerpt}}