ISMAILA Soro is delighted to have signed for Celtic and he’s looking forward to what the next four-and-a-half years at Paradise hold for him. The 21-year-old midfielder knows he’s joining a massive club in Celtic, and he’s determined to play his part in delivering further success to the club in the years ahead.

Speaking exclusively to the official Celtic website, Ismaila Soro said: “People talk about what you want from a team. I know Celtic will give me everything I want. I am joining a massive club, one of the world’s truly great football clubs with fantastic players, a beautiful history and the best fans around.

“I won’t look ahead too much but I have signed a long term four-and-a-half-year contract and across all these years I want to be part of more and more success at the club.”

The Ivorian will meet his new teammates tomorrow (Tuesday) for his first training session with the Scottish champions, and he’s looking forward to working with Neil Lennon and his squad.

Soro is Celtic’s second signing of the January transfer window following the arrival of Polish striker, Patryk Klimala earlier this month, and he’s looking forward pulling on the Hoops and showing supporters what he can do.

He has spent the last two years playing in the Israeli top flight with Bnei Yehuda where has made over 60 appearances for the Tel Aviv club, winning his first piece of silverware in the form of the Israeli Cup at the end of last season.

“I’m going to give absolutely everything to continue the success here at Celtic,” he said. “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.

“I want to settle into the team and give everything for the manager in training,” he said. “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 is also the fourth Ivorian to sign for Celtic in recent years, following in the footsteps of Kolo Toure, Eboue Kouassi and Vakoun Bayo, and he explained that he has already been in contact with Bayo.

“He has told me great things about Celtic and the fans, so I couldn’t be more excited to be here at Celtic,” said the new Bhoy.

“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.”

Ismaila Soro: I can't wait to pull on the Hoops and play at Paradise