Olivier Ntcham signs 4-year deal with Celtic

It may not have been the name Celtic fans wanted from Manchester City to start the transfer window, but the Hoops have pulled in a Man City midfielder nonetheless.

On Wednesday, Celtic announced the signing of attacking midfielder Olivier Ntcham on a 4-year deal from the English side.

The 21-year-old midfielder may be included in the Champions League squad should Celtic decide to add him as a wildcard ahead of Friday’s clash with Linfield.

The Bhoys would need to add him by Thursday at 11pm, but it will be interesting to see if he is in the immediate plans or if they wait until the next round to get him in the squad.

Ntcham comes to Celtic with a lot of ambition and a lot of knowledge of the history of the club. Speaking to the club website, Ntcham had this to say:

"“It’s a nice feeling to be here. I want to win everything at Celtic as I have never won a trophy before.“I’m most looking forward to the derby and playing in the Champions League. I remember them beating Barcelona five years ago in the group stages. Not every club gets to play in this competition so I’m happy to have the chance to play there with Celtic.”"

While the name of Manchester City has been officially attached to Ntcham, he hasn’t been in the plans for the light blue side of Manchester for awhile. He spent the last two seasons at Serie A squad Genoa.

In those two years he made 41 appearances and netted three goals for Genoa.

Nthcam sees Celtic as a fresh start for him, but also a good challenge ahead.

“Celtic is fresh challenge for me,” he told Celtic’s website. “While Genoa are a good team, I knew they wouldn’t win Serie A as they were not a top team like Juventus, but I know Celtic are a big team in Scotland.”

The young midfielder impressed enough to have bigger clubs chasing his signing this offseason. However, once again, it appears that Brendan Rodgers’ reputation for his work with younger players won over another potential-laden player. Ntcham admitted that much to Celtic’s website.

"“It was Brendan Rodgers who got me to come here,” Olivier said. “I had a lot clubs in Italy like Lazio, Torino and Inter who were interested, but when I spoke to Brendan I decided to come here. I liked the philosophy of Brendan as he always wants to play with the ball, and this is the way I like to play. I’m a powerful and technical player, and I had a coach before like this who always wanted to play and win the second ball. Brendan also talked about Moussa Dembele and how he came here and what he achieved over six months."

As for the addition to the side, it certainly makes the competition level in training as high as possible. It also is another move to get younger overall in the middle of the park.

Having fellow French youth international, Moussa Dembele, on the squad should help him fit in easier to this side as well.

It seems clear that Rodgers is looking to challenge those who played well last season. Should he fit in quickly, it will be interesting to see what July and August have in store for names like Tom Rogic and Stuart Armstrong.

With rumored interest in Armstrong from clubs in England and a row over a new deal at Celtic, getting cover for him and quality cover at that, should prove a shrewd move.