Former Celtic defender Jason Denayer has revealed that former Arsenal and Manchester City star Patrick Vieira sold him on his move to Parkhead.

Denayer joined the Hoops on loan from City back in 2014 and enjoyed a trophy-laden season as a Celtic player where he partnered Virgil van Dijk at the heart of the defence.

Having spent most of his time with the reserves at the Etihad, Denayer jumped at the chance to leave for Glasgow when he was approached by Gunners legend Vieira - though he admits it was a big step to take at such a young age. "I was at Manchester City and during the summer of 2014 Patrick Vieira came to my house," he told Scottish Sun.

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"He said to me, 'Look, the Celtic coach has called me'. He had already watched me in reserve games. Patrick said, 'He is interested in you and you have to go to Celtic - it will be a great experience'.

"For me, it was a big thing to make the transition between the young teams and first team. I didn't think twice about it and I went to Celtic. It was more difficult to adapt than I thought, because I did not speak English very well.

"There were no French speakers so I had to work a lot on communication. But in terms of football, I settled very quickly after scoring in my first game.

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"I had a fantastic season at Celtic. We won trophies and it was great for me."

Denayer, now captain of Lyon at just 24, recalled his first impressions of Liverpool's van Dijk. "Virgil has worked hard and got what he deserved," he added. 

"For defenders, it's always good to have players like him."

Denayer played 44 times for Celtic, scoring six goals.