Former Celtic star Ki Sung-yueng has backed his South Korean countryman Oh Hyeon-gyu to be a huge hit with the Scottish champions.

The Hoops signed the promising 21-year-old last month from homeland club Suwon Samsung Bluewings, whose manager revealed Celtic had tried to sign him in the summer too.

Oh revealed when he was unveiled as a Celtic player that Ki was one of the players he admired and looked up to. Ki joined Celtic in 2010 in a £2.5 million move from FC Seoul and went on to win a title, Scottish Cup and League Cup in a two-year stint before clinching a £6 million move to Swansea City.

The 34-year-old is now back at FC Seoul following further spells at Newcastle United, Sunderland and Mallorca and has been previewing the start of the K-League which kicks off later this month.

And he admitted he was delighted to see Oh follow in his footsteps at Celtic.
Ki said: "I think Oh Hyeon-gyu is a player with huge potential. He doesn’t have much experience in the K-League, but I believe he will show he is capable of making the leap to a higher level.

"I don’t have a relationship with Oh as I don't know him personally, but I have watched him and he is a player with good physical attributes and speed.

"He is a young guy who is full of confidence in his own ability and energy.

"I read what he said about me when he signed for Celtic and that was an honour.

"Celtic are a club with incredible fans. Every time I played there I was amazed by the atmosphere, I can never forget it. It was a really good experience for me.

"Everything will be very different for him, as it was for me - the language, climate, and teammates. So it will be difficult for him to adapt at first.

"It's important for him to accept this and keep calm about it and realise it will take time to adjust to his new surroundings on and off the pitch.

"But in Europe, you have to be proactive and not passive. He can certainly contact me if he has any questions about settling in there in Scotland."