Kouassi Eboue endears himself to fans as Celtic make signing official

The long-awaited arrival of Ivory Coast midfielder Kouassi Eboue in a Celtic kit is finally here. After more than a week spent waiting on a work permit, Celtic officially unveiled its first signing of the January transfer window on Thursday.

Eboue, a 19-year-old midfielder, of course comes from FC Krasnodar in Russia after a quick spell in the Armenian League as well. We have a full run down on the type of player Eboue is and his history here.

But, why make the move to Celtic and not just stay in the Russian league to grow as a player? It appears that the ambition and plan in place by manager Brendan Rodgers sold him that a move to Scotland would be the right thing for his career.

“I had many options but I chose to come to Celtic because they have a good ambition and project here,” said Eboue to Celtic’s website. “I want to move forward and progress and I think Celtic is a good club for me to do that. Celtic also have a good coach in Brendan Rodgers so he can help me to develop.”

That is the hope for the player and the hope of Rodgers as well, who is widely quoted that he got the same feeling he did with signings like Philippe Coutinho and Manchester City attacker Raheem Sterling. Rodgers of course signed both while he was at Liverpool, with both players becoming key players at their specific clubs.

"“He is one of those young players I look at with the same feeling I had as when I saw a young Coutinho or a young Sterling. Within 10 seconds you see his talent. He is one, obviously, the scouting team have been aware of. Most coaches see something in a player that suits their way of working. But there are certain attributes in a young player you can see and you get a good feeling. This boy has that."

It wasn’t just what Rodgers has planned for the club or his reputation for building up players that attracted Eboue to Paradise either. It turns out the makeup of the squad had a lot to do with it as well. Eboue noted that he knew of a lot of the players in Celtic’s squad before arriving, but especially fellow Ivorian, Kolo Toure.

“Yes, because Kolo is a big man,” said Eboue. “When I was young I watched TV and supported him and now when I think I’ll play alongside him I’m really happy.”

Eboue has been able to spend time off the pitch with the club and his teammates in Dubai. It appears those teammates have engrained a bit of Celtic’s history in him, because his first post about his move to the club is stuff of legends.

Celtic fans have immediately fallen in love of course, and who wouldn’t with a little “Celtic Symphony” to rock out to?

The response on Twitter has been epic.

There’s even been a few Obama memes thrown in the mix too.

All of that without him kicking a ball for the Bhoys just yet.

We’ll see just how quickly he engrains himself in to the side, but it certainly appears that Rodgers and Co. are going to give him every opportunity to get stuck in quickly. With some time left in Dubai before a return back to Glasgow to prepare for the Scottish Cup tie with Albion Rovers on Jan. 22.

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All eyes will be on his development to say the least, but for now at least he is saying and doing all the right things to get stuck in with his teammates and with the supporters as well.

Hail, Hail.