Mark Devlin 
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Celtic’s new signing Eboue Kouassi has revealed that new teammate Kolo Toure played a big part in his move to Glasgow.
Kouassi made the switch to the Scottish Champions earlier this month from Russian side FC Krasnodar, signing a four-year deal for a fee of £2.8 million.
And the midfielder, who hails from the Ivory Coast, has said that veteran Ivorian defender Kolo Toure played an important role in his decision to join Brendan Rodgers’ side.
Speaking about his move to the Hoops via Sky Sports for the first time, Kouassi said:
When I heard Celtic were interested I was happy because Celtic is a club with a big history so I was happy to learn that they were interested in me.
Kolo gave me some advice, the main thing was not to hesitate, just come to Celtic, it is a great club, it is a fantastic club. He told me that they will look after you and make you progress, make you an even better player than you are at the moment.
There are loads of great players who have come to Celtic before like Victor Wanyama and Bobo Balde and it has a great coach at the moment. All I am interested in is making progress and I really feel this is the best place for me to progress.
The 19-year-old also looks at the prospect of Champions League football as a way of improving his chances of receiving a call-up to his national team.
This will have an impact on my international career with Ivory Coast. When I was a small kid in Africa, to be honest I did not know much about Celtic.
But as soon as I grew up and when football was obviously going to be my career I started to watch Champions League games and then you can’t help but notice a club like Celtic.
Kouassi has been Brendan Rodgers’ one and only signing in this January window, with Ryan Christie and Kristoffer Ayer departing the club on-loan deals.
The Ivorian may get his first taste of Scottish football when Celtic host Hearts this Sunday.
