TIMOTHY Weah has revealed his ambition is to become a world-class footballer the equal of his famous father George – who told his son that working with Brendan Rodgers at Celtic was the best move for him at this stage of his career.

The 18-year-old Paris Saint-Germain striker agreed a five-month loan deal with the Scottish champions and will be joined at the club by 21-year-old Ivorian striker Vakoun Issouf Bayo who sealed his £2million move to Parkhead.

George Weah was a football icon voted the best player in the world in 1995 while at AC Milan. He was sworn in as President of Liberia a year ago.

And his son, who was born and raised in New York, believes he can live up to his family name.

The new Celtic man said: “I’d like to thank my father for opening the doors to so many opportunities. 

“You know what he’s done in the past with his career and I’m now at a point where I have the bar set really high, so I just have to work and work and work until I get there.

“You will always have comparisons but I’m really ambitious and feel anything is possible with hard work and dedication. 

“Hopefully, one day I’ll get there. If I don’t, I’ll still be 100 per cent know I will give it my all.

“I feel it’s the goal to be able to say that my father was who he was, but I was able to go through all that adversity with those who said I’d never do this and that, that I was able to fight through that and become the player I was.

“If I ever reached that world-class level, I’d be proud of myself and of my parents for getting me to this level. 

“Right now, it’s a dream come true to have had the start I have.

“Now it’s about hard work and putting in all the extra training sessions my dad did when he was with Arsene Wenger and the extra work to become a good player.”

Weah senior, it transpires, is an admirer of Celtic manager Rodgers and advised his 
son to take the opportunity to join Celtic.

Weah junior said: “I spoke to my father 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.

“He said to go with my heart. 

“If I felt it was the right decision, then 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. 

“Him explaining who his players are, the team-mates I have and what I have to do to get onto his team made this the perfect team to join.

“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.”