ISMAILA SORO has finally checked in at Celtic following a transfer saga which CQN originally flagged up almost TWO months ago.
Red tape held up the Ivorian midfielder’s £2million switch from Israeli outfit Bnei Yehudan to the eight-in-a-row champions – and the 21-year-old hopes to prove he was well worth the wait as the clock ticked down towards the transfer deadline at midnight on Friday.
Soro passed a medical last week and now, at last, has been granted a work permit to seal a four-and-a-half year-deal.
The middle-of-the-park anchorman, speaking to the Evening Times, said: “I want to settle into the team and give everything for the manager in training.
“I understand that breaking into the team will happen in stages and I’m prepared to be patient as I work towards this.
“I’m confident that I will settle quickly and impress the manager enough to earn the chance to play.”
Soro, who has already expressed a desire to one day play for Liverpool, continued: “I won’t look ahead too much, but I have signed a long-term contract and across all these years I want to be part of more and more success at the club.
“I’ve watched a lot of Celtic games recently and I can’t wait to get started here.
“The stadium is huge and with the reputation of these great fans I know the atmosphere at Celtic Park will be unlike anything anywhere else. The stadium is amazing, and I can only imagine how great it will be when it’s full of fans.”
Soro has already spoken to his fellow-countryman Vakoun Issouf Bayo, who also arrived last January in a £2million, about life at Scotland’s title kings.
The player already termed “Little Bull” by manager Neil Lennon added: “He has told me great things about Celtic and the fans, so I couldn’t be more excited to be here.
“I’ll give everything and more to continue the success this club has achieved. The reception here has given me the desire to go and work even harder for the fans, my team-mates and the manager.”
Soro will be included in Lennon’s travelling party to Perth tomorrow night for the Premiership meeting with St Johnstone, but is unlikely to figure.
However, £3.5million Polish striker Patryk Klimala, who had a cameo role in the Scottish Cup win over Partick Thistle, but remained on the substitutes’ bench against Kilmarnock and Ross County, is hoping to get a chance at some stage in his attempt to get his first goal for the Hoops.
