Those words from two of friends were positive enough, but it was conversations with Martin O’Neill and Shaun Maloney which carried the most weight in convincing him to join Celtic.

“Speaking with the manager, it just felt like the perfect fit for me and I feel like I can come in and help out the lads,” he explained.

“He just wanted to cross-check how I was, where I was training. I’ve obviously been training at Arsenal for a good three months so he wanted to hear about that and hear how I was in the situation I was, hear how my last few seasons went out in Turkey and get a bit of background on my situation.

'I explained everything and he said he’d love to have me up here and it seemed quite seamless.'

“A lot of times when you’re in these situations, it can be of opinions back and forth with teams when you’re talking, and you just to the opportunity to go and play, and the manager here is maybe a bit more old-school in that manner where he just said, are you ready to come and play. I said, yes, absolutely, and here we are. We’re ready to get cracking.

“Just talking to the manager, and Shaun Maloney as well, who told the expectations on the club and what it means to play here, what our targets are and that he’s going to push me.

“That’s all the stuff I identify with and that’s the environment I’ve always been in and been lucky enough to be in.

“It’s exactly what I need. I need another challenge and lucky enough at a massive club like this. And they can help me get back to where I need to get to and, more importantly, I need to help the team achieve the goals we want to do.”

And with Celtic in the hunt for silverware this season, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is looking forward to playing his part for the team, bringing his experience of winning trophies to the club.

“There are some really experienced guys already here and they have experience of winning it here and what it’s like here,” he said, “so I’m going to have to learn off that and try to take from that.

“But being in any environment and any team that is competing to win things, you learn over the years how things are done, the habits you form, the culture you set between yourselves. That’s obviously something I’ve come from and I’ve been lucky enough to experience.

'So that’s my job also as one of the senior players, or older players with experience, is to come in train the way you need to train every day and set those standards.'

“And, like I said, it’s also important for me to learn off the other boys who’re here and who have lived and breathed it here, and that’s a new experience for me – to learn from them quickly as well.

“It’s going to be a tough end to the season. There are a lot of games, and all that is something I can resonate with – that pressure, that expectation and the demands from the fans for those things is what makes me tick and I like that challenge, so all of that fed into it as well for me.”

Exclusive Celtic TV interview with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain