DADDY’S BHOY

Weah reveals football icon father told him to join Celtic

TIMOTHY WEAH insists his superstar father George urged him to move to Celtic to work with Brendan Rodgers.

The 18-year-old Paris Saint-Germain striker is one of three new arrivals at Celtic so far in the January window alongside Oliver Burke — who is on a similar six-month loan spell — and Ivory Coast forward Vakoun Issouf Bayo, who last night signed a £2million, four-year deal subject to the granting of a work permit.

and, speaking after his first training session with the Scottish champions in Dubai, Weah claimed that his iconic father gave the move to Parkhead his blessing.

‘I spoke to him about coming to Scotland a few weeks ago when we were discussing the terms of the deal and he said it was a good decision,’ Weah said of conversations

with the 1995 FIFA player of the year and a Ballon d’Or winner, who is now the president of Liberia. ‘He said to go with my heart if I felt it was the right decision: “You are a grown boy and you know what you need to do with your career”. ‘He believes in Brendan Rodgers and his system. He believes in the gaffer and what he plans to do. ‘My dad had watched his work with what he did at Swansea and then taking over at Liverpool. ‘My mum loved it when he was coaching Liverpool. I was a young kid watching that, too. Everyone knows Brendan.’ Rodgers travelled to France to outline his ethos and plans to Weah before securing his services until the end of the season. ‘Him explaining who his players are, the team-mates I have and what I have to do to get into his team made this the perfect team to join,’ added the teenager. ‘He said Celtic is one of the best clubs to play for and the fans are incredible. ‘It seems everyone who knows about Celtic knows they are historical and, if you play here, expect diehard fans. I watched the videos and realised that.’ A friend of PSG’s Brazilian superstar Neymar, United States international Weah claimed his first goal for the French giants in a win over Caen in August. His first-team opportunities have been limited by the world’s most expensive strike force, however, and he sought the counsel of dressing-room colleagues before opting to go on loan. ‘There is me, another player Thomas Meunier and then Neymar is right there,’ Weah said of the seating plan in the PSG dressing room. ‘This summer when I was in New York, we managed to bump into each other four times. ‘I didn’t go to him and speak to him one-on-one about coming to Celtic but I spoke to other team-mates like Meunier and Dani Alves. They said it’s good to go out and get experience and they felt Celtic was the best club because you’re getting that. ‘It’s all in the package: great team, great supporters, great stadium, great coaching staff, so it’s a great place to learn.’ Last night, Rodgers announced himself satisfied with his new arrivals as he welcomed Weah to the club. ‘He’s a young talent who is a full international player and has a long career ahead of him, but his natural attributes are his pace and his technique and he’s hungry,’ said the Celtic manager. ‘He’s been in the PSG squad and featured for them in pre-season and, obviously, with the quality of players they have, it’s difficult for him to get game time. ‘He’ll see Celtic as a great possibility and he comes in and adds to the players that are here and challenge, whilst getting experience of playing for a really big club and having that pressure to win. ‘He has really good qualities technically, tactically and he’s improving his game. Physically, he’s very good, fast and strong and he’ll add competition to the squad.’ On the arrival of Burke, Rodgers added: ‘He burst onto the scene at Nottingham Forest and I remember watching a game and thinking what a talent he was, but then it all went very quickly for him. ‘From Forest, to Leipzig to a new country, new style, new way of working and he wasn’t there that long before he came back, so it’s a very important time for him at 21. His key strengths are his pace and his power and an eye for goal, but what he should enjoy is that he’s coming to a good coaching environment and he’s going to need to work on that side of the game. ‘But in my conversations with him, he’s very keen to learn, he’s very keen to take on that responsibility and there are lots of elements of his game that we think we can change a little that can change a lot for him individually, but then will obviously benefit our team. ‘His pace and power is phenomenal and he has a nice touch on the ball, running in behind and into goal. We hope we can utilise that and improve his quality and his game. ‘In my time at the club, the market has changed quite considerably, really, when you lose players. ‘We came out of the summer where we lost key players and the players up until this point have done very well, but it’s always important that you can improve and that will be down to the availability and, of course the affordability of the player. These are key areas where we hope we can bring new players into the squad.’ Celtic, meanwhile, have reportedly offered a deal to former Rangers trialist Andrew Gutman. The Chicago Fire academy graduate recently spent a week with the Ibrox side, alongside fellow American full-back Matt Polster. Chicago-based website The Athletic claims Celtic have now made an offer to the 22-year-old former college football star.