Nicolas Kuhn has joined Celtic on a five-and-a-half year deal; Hoops agreed a fee of £3m for the Rapid Vienna winger; he is Brendan Rodgers' first January signing; 'It was clear at the moment Celtic called and showed interest that I wanted to come here'
Wednesday 17 January 2024 20:32, UK
Celtic have made their first January signing with winger Nicolas Kuhn joining from Rapid Vienna on a five-and-a-half year deal.
The 24-year-old completed his £3m move to the Scottish Premiership leaders following a successful medical in London.
Kuhn, who played for Ajax and Bayern Munich in his youth, scored three goals and had seven assists for Rapid this season.
The German, who could make his Celtic debut in Sunday's Scottish Cup tie against Highland League side Buckie Thistle, believes Parkhead is the perfect place to achieve his ambitions at club and country level
Speaking at his unveiling at Celtic Park on Wednesday, he said: "Of course they [Ajax and Bayern] were big clubs. I learned a lot, it was a good school.
"There were a lot of players who had a good career and who made big steps to big clubs so I learned a lot and now I want to show what I can do here.
"At Ajax I played with the whole squad that got to the semi-finals of the Champions League [2019], I trained the whole year with the first team.
"At Bayern I played with players like (Robert) Lewandowski and (Joshua) Kimmich and all the guys you know.
"I think at Ajax I did really good in the youths. When I first arrived, we won the second league with the second team. I trained the whole time with the first team. In the youth league, I was the top scorer and I deserved a chance.
"But then I made the move to Bayern. After the first season, we were also champions with the second team in the third league in Germany.
"Then there were some private problems so I made a step back.
"People were looking at where I was playing but for me it was a good step. So I can take two steps forward now.
"I've improved a lot, I think. I've now played regularly and I've stayed fit. That's the most important thing. Now I can show what I'm able to do.
"When I was at Erzgebirge Aue for one year on loan, I said I wanted to play in the Champions League and for the national team.
"Now I've made a big step to a big club. So, of course, in the future, I want to play for the national team as well."
Kuhn had interest from other clubs but insists the call from Celtic and a chat with boss Brendan Rodgers made up his mind to make the move to Glasgow.
He said: "We had some really good meetings, we talked a lot and he told me what a great and big club this is although I knew about Celtic before and I also saw some games.
"He convinced me to come here and everything he told me was really nice and I had the first training session today.
"It was clear at the moment Celtic called and showed interest that I wanted to come here.
"There was some interest from other clubs but the moment I received the message I didn't think about going somewhere else."
As for Rodgers, he said of the new arrival: "We are delighted to welcome Nicolas to Celtic. We believe he is a dynamic player who has an excellent level of quality and all the attributes to fit well into our style of play.
"He has the profile we are looking for, he has a real attacking intent, a player with great pace and ideas, the ability to create and score goals and a player with a great energy and work ethic.
"He is someone who can play wide on both sides so he brings with him that versatility for us too, and myself and the coaches here really look forward to working with him."
The winter transfer window is now open and will close at 11pm in England and 11.30pm in Scotland on Thursday 1 February, 2024.
To ensure harmonisation with the major leagues in Europe, the closing dates were set following discussions with the EFL, DFL, Serie A, LaLiga, and LFP, who will all close their summer and winter windows on 1 September and 1 February respectively.
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