Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has never played for a Scottish club before.
But Celtic’s new signing is familiar with how raucous the atmosphere can be north of the border. In fact, he has first-hand experience of a packed Celtic Park.
A teenage prodigy, Oxlade-Chamberlain was a £15 million player before he had even turned 18, being named in the League One Team of the Year, despite his incredibly tender age.
A year later, he was named in England’s squad at EURO 2012, starting alongside Steven Gerrard in their opening match against France.
But another one of the most memorable moments of his international career came on an interesting night at Parkhead.
Could Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain have an impact like Scott Sinclair did at Celtic?
Celtic-bound Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s goal at Paradise
Celtic Park isn’t known for hosting international fixtures, but circumstances rendered it necessary in 2014.
With Hampden Park out of use in the year of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, two showpiece Scotland fixtures were held at Paradise.
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One of them, against Ireland, saw Shaun Maloney score a spectacular goal as Scotland took a massive step in their ultimately-unsuccessful bid to qualify for EURO 2016.
But a few days later, the Auld Enemy came to face Gordon Strachan’s side in an international friendly. It was the first time that England had played at Celtic Park.
And having been named in England’s Starting XI, Oxlade-Chamberlain made his mark in the first-half, opening the scoring with a header from a brilliant Jack Wilshere assist.
He dedicated the goal to his father, Portsmouth legend Mark Chamberlain, who had also made one of his eight England caps against Scotland 30 years earlier.
England won 3-1 on the night, with Wayne Rooney scoring two goals after the break. Scotland’s goal was scored by Hoops-supporting Andy Robertson; a first international goal for the man who would eventually captain the Tartan Army.
Oxlade-Chamberlain would go onto score for England in Glasgow again three years later, in a World Cup qualifier at Hampden, famous for Leigh Griffiths’ free-kick double being pegged back by a last-gasp Harry Kane equaliser.
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Martin O’Neill on Celtic signing Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
Speaking on Oxlade-Chamberlain’s imminent addition at Celtic Park, Martin O’Neill insisted that the midfielder has plenty to give in green and white.
He said: “I think that the people who have said that are absolutely entitled to that opinion. From a distance, I might have thought about that myself.
“He’s been training, if everything is to be believed, with Arsenal. Well, at this minute Arsenal are one of the strongest teams in Europe.
“If he’s training with high quality players, it can only be a benefit to him. If they even thought about taking him on as a backup, probably not playing for them at any stage because they’ve got so many good players, it says a lot about him.
“He’s got a bit of quality. It’s whether he has the fitness and the desire. I think the desire should be there. It’s a matter of how quickly he gets up to speed.
“He’s played at a very, very top level. For whatever reason, he chose to leave the country when he was about 29 or 30.
“He said on the phone to me the first time that he had about three or four managers. Somebody signed him and then left relatively quickly.
“Then the next one came in and I don’t think he got on too well with him. So it’s been like that back and forward. But he’s definitely got some calibre.”
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