Celtic’s Cristian Gamboa has opened up about his move to the club.
Celtic defender Cristian Gamboa has told The Scottish Sun that James McClean and Darren Fletcher played a part in his decision to leave West Brom for the Bhoys.
Gamboa, 27, signed the Baggies from Norwegian side Rosenborg after impressing for the Costa Rican national team during the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, but he struggled to settle at The Hawthorns.
Gamboa was signed under Alan Irvine but was massively out of favour under Tony Pulis, and chose to leave the Baggies last summer after making just 17 first-team appearances for the club.
Barcelona’s Jordi Alba in action with Celtic’s Cristian Gamboa
Celtic swooped to land him back in August, handing him a three-year deal as Brendan Rodgers looked for more depth behind Mikael Lustig at right back.
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So far, the pacey full back has made 15 appearances for Celtic, and started the club’s two league games in January as he attempts to re-establish himself having been frozen out at West Brom.
Costa Rica’s Cristian Gamboa
Now, Gamboa has commented on the advice he received from West Brom players when the opportunity to join Celtic arose, with two players particularly convincing him to move.
Gamboa told The Scottish Sun that winger James McClean – a Bhoys fan – urged him to make the move to Glasgow, whilst Scottish midfielder Darren Fletcher also spoke highly of the club.
Gamboa suggested that most of the West Brom squad understood his lack of football, and advised him to join Celtic in order to play on a regular basis.
“James McClean is a big Celtic fan and he told me that if I had the chance, I had to come here,” said Gamboa. “That was nice to hear. But all the guys were nice, people like Darren Fletcher too. They knew my situation at West Brom.”
“So when I got the opportunity, everybody — especially the Scottish guys — just said ‘go’ because they knew I’d get the chance to play,” he added.
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