Oh Hyeon-gyu keen to repay Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou’s persistence with goals

New Celtic striker Oh Hyeon-gyu vowed to repay Ange Postecoglou for his persistence after finally completing his dream move to Celtic.

The South Korea international first heard about Celtic’s interest in September and sealed his move from Suwon Samsung Bluewings this week.

The 21-year-old said: “The moment I heard about the offer I always dreamed about coming over to Celtic. When Celtic offered I didn’t have to think about anything else.

“As a boy I always dreamed about moving to a European club – it was one of my big aims.

“Because it took such a long time, I was nervous. As a player, there was nothing I could or should do, just to give my best for Suwon. I believed if I showed good performances at Suwon Bluewings I would one day become a Celtic player.

“There was nothing else I could do, it was all down to the manager.

“It was a pretty long few months of negotiations. It would have been easy for the manager to give up when it doesn’t seem like working out but I’m very grateful that the manager didn’t give me up.

“I’m very happy to finally be here. As much as the manager wanted me, I want to pay him back by scoring a lot of goals.”

Oh, who has one international cap, admits he found his first training session at Lennoxtown “very tough” but vowed to adapt quickly and assured fans he was ready to start.

Speaking ahead of Sunday’s cinch Premiership encounter against Dundee United at Tannadice, Oh said: “I want to give a good impression on my debut and a match that no-one can ever forget.”

Oh’s arrival looked set to pave the way for Giorgos Giakoumakis to depart Celtic but the Greece striker’s destination remains uncertain.

Giakoumakis had previously been linked with Japanese side Urawa Red Diamonds and the official Major League Soccer website reported that Atlanta United were now in talks with Celtic.

The report, citing an Atlanta insider, claimed that any deal was likely to be an initial loan with a purchase option that would be automatically triggered if certain performance targets were met.