JOHN GUIDETTI has not even kicked a ball for Celtic - but already the Swedish hitman is looking beyond the season-long loan.

The 22-year-old is in the final year of his contract with Manchester City and will be a free agent next summer.

Celtic hope the time he spends at Parkhead will put them in pole position to make his move permanent.

A deal could be done even sooner as Guidetti will be free to sign a pre-contract with any club from January, and the Hoops do not want to simply provide a platform for him to show other interested parties what he can do.

Unfortunately for Guidetti, he will not be allowed to strut his stuff in the Europa League group stage matches as the delay in having Fifa ratify his transfer means it was too late for Celtic to register him in their 25-man squad.

But he will be eligible if they reach the knockout stages, which begin in February.

In the interim, Guidetti wants to get back to playing regularly in the domestic matches, and getting his injury and illness-disrupted career back on track.

He said: "I know Johan Mjallby very well and Henrik Larsson's son (Jordan) well, and I spoke to Henrik a couple of times. I know what the fans are expecting, but Henrik was an amazing striker, and they are very big shoes to fill.

"But I promise I will do my very best to do even a little bit of what he did. They just told me what a great club it is, and it's not for no reason Henrik stayed for so many years.

"He was very much wanted in Europe, because later he went to Barcelona and Manchester United. But he stayed because it was an amazing club to play for, and that tells you all you need to know about Celtic."

Guidetti will begin training with his new team-mates next week when everyone returns from the international break.

But, after hopefully making his debut against Aberdeen a week today, he will be reduced to the role of spectator as the Hoops face Salzburg in their opening Europa League tie.

Guidetti can't wait to get involved in such occasions, and told the club's wesbite: "Even the people at City told me about the European nights. They said it's the best atmosphere in the world. People just don't say that for no reason, and it must be true because I've heard it from so many places."

He added: "I spoke to the manager and felt a good connection with him and that Celtic was a club that knew about me and were genuine about what they liked, which is so important. With a good manager and good fans and players, you can never go wrong.

"I'm going to work my socks off to try to do my absolute very best every game, because that's what the fans deserve."

Meanwhile, Celtic's league fixture on Saturday, October 18 at Ross County has been moved forward to 12.45pm for Sky coverage while the match at Aberdeen on Sunday, November 9 will kick-off at 12.30pm.