SEAD HAKSABANOVIC won’t be ready to make his Celtic debut against Dundee United tomorrow, but Ange Postecoglou hopes to get his new signing up and running quickly following his arrival at Celtic.
Montenegrin winger Haksabanovic became the Celtic manager’s eighth signing of the summer transfer window this week, with the Scottish champions securing his services for a cut-price fee from Rubin Kazan.
But while he is keen to see his new man in action, and knows that the Celtic fans will be too, Postecoglou is willing to wait until the 23-year-old is fully up to speed before pitching him into the team.
“He’s someone I’ve been tracking for a while and with the unique circumstances he is in with his club the opportunity arose,” Postecoglou said.
“He’s at a really good age. He’s only in his early 20s but he’s already got experience at club and international level.
“He can play a number of roles in the front half and I think he’ll fit in with the way we play our football.
“I held discussions with him and he’s been determined to join the club. He has said this is where he wants to be, which is a good indicator for me he’s here for the right reasons.
“We’ll quickly get him up to speed and he will be a good asset for us. It’s hard to say how long it will take him, I don’t want to put a timeline on it as he hasn’t played a game for a while.
“He’s been training individually for a while. But he trained with the group this morning and we’ll track how he’s going.
“He’s keen to get going as quickly as possible and I’m keen to get him involved.
“But we need to make sure enough work is done to put him in there.”
Midfielder Yosuke Ideguchi has also re-joined training this week following injury, but he too won’t be ready to play any part in the game at Tannadice tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Postecoglou expects there may be more comings and goings at Celtic in the final days of the transfer window.
“We'll stay active,” he said.
“There's a few days left and hopefully see what happens with some outgoings and if the right person or right opportunity comes along we may bring one more in.”
