Bought for £2m in January, Bayo Vakoun Issouf has yet to make a significant appearance for Celtic, only coming on for a one minute cameo against Kilmarnock so far.
Prior to this move, the 22-year-old was having a grand old time in Slovakia at Dunajska Streda, where he had scored 18 goals and assisted teammates seven times in 23 appearances.
These performances were enough to get him noticed by the Ivory Coast national team, for whom he made his debut back in October, coming off the bench in a 4-0 win over Central African Republic.
Back with the U23s for the current international break, the Celtic striker sat down with SportMania and discussed how the move to Parkhead came about.
He said: “The club had been following me in Slovakia. They saw in me a profile that interested them, and with the help and astute advice of my elder Kolo Touré, they didn’t hesitate to gamble on me.
Revealing he was ‘pleasantly surprised’ at how warm the welcome was within Celtic, which is a memory he will ‘remember for a long time’, the forward believes it won’t be long before fans will see him more regularly in the first-team.
He suggested the change from Brendan Rodgers to Neil Lennon means he’s had to prove himself again: “Looking at what I’m doing on the pitch, I should quickly return to the main squad. The former manager’s exit has mixed the plans a bit.
“There’s a new boss on the bench these days. It wasn’t easy, but as a professional, I’m giving the best I can to convince him. Judging by my current performances, I think everything should fall into place for me”.
If that isn’t the case in the near future, Issouf will just continue to work hard until it does.
As he puts it: “If I’m at Celtic, it’s clearly because I’ve got talent”.
