Having survived freezing Norwegian winters before finding himself out in the cold at West Brom, Cristian Gamboa’s relish for his new surroundings was understandable at Lennoxtown yesterday.

The Costa Rican may have got a rather leading impression of what is likely to confront him over the next few months as he arrived at Celtic’s training base on one of the warmest days of the year.

However he is simply excited about being given the chance to prove himself again after a miserable time in the English midlands over the past year.

He was diplomatic when asked about his treatment at the hands of Tony Pulis, West Brom’s boss who is famed for his bluntness and no-nonsense approach to the game.

However, he hinted at both frustration and relief at the way negotiations had gone after Celtic showed an interest in signing him.

“I know they had to ask some questions about everything because I was not playing for a while, but you can see that I was playing for the national team even when I wasn’t playing for West Brom,” noted the 47-times capped international.

“Of course they wanted to make sure I was the player they wanted and everything went well.”

He was not prepared to be drawn directly on the way he had been shut out at The Hawthorns.

“It was a difficult situation,” he said.

“Everyone knows about the gaffer there and the way he likes to play. I didn’t fit in to his plans and the way he played.

“Let’s just say it was different. Some times you have a manager who likes you, the next wants to do it a different way. That’s life in football. There’s no hard feelings.

“It doesn’t matter to me now.”

However the flying full-back believes he will be given more of a chance by Brendan Rodgers and that Celtic’s style of play will suit.

“I have closed the door and this one has opened for me at Celtic. This is a really big move for me and I am really happy to be here,” said Gamboa.

“This is the opportunity I was looking for.

“The manager here plays a style that does suit me. That was one of also one of the reasons I wanted to come here.

“I knew Brendan as the coach of Liverpool and how he liked to play.

“I’ve also seen some of his games at Celtic and he likes the team to have the ball and play attacking football. He likes to go forward and score goals.

“I hope it’s a style of play that I can do well in.”

He also understands the expectations of supporters.

“When you are at a big club like Celtic you have to be attacking all of the time,” Gamboa noted.

“You need to create and if you start something you need to finish it.

“The supporters always want to go forward.

“I enjoy playing that way but I have to prove it on the pitch.”

He is not naïve enough to think that every day spent in the shadow of the Campsie’s will match those he encountered on his first day as a Celtic player, but Gamboa has been through much worse so expects to acclimatise with relative ease.

“It’s been tough, especially when you to go to Norway from Costa Rica. You are used to 30 degree heat and all of a sudden it is minus 10,” he said of his stint in Trondheim playing for Rosenborg.

“The first year was difficult, very tough, but my dream was always to play football in Europe.

“The area where I grew up is close to the beach and that was what I was used to. Ten minutes and I could be on the beach.

“I came to Norway in the summer. Then came the winter. It was crazy. And then you have to play football in it.

“It was a good experience, though. You learn and adapt and pick things up. Later, you can enjoy it and laugh about it.

“I took it like a challenge and now I am here at Celtic, one of the biggest clubs in Europe.

“I know Scotland is a little bit colder than home but it’s not minus 20 so that’s fine.

“Trondheim is really in the north but I liked the people there and the club. Rosenborg were very good to me.”

He performed well enough when he was there to earn a place in a Costa Rica side which impressed at the 2014 World Cup, beating both England and Italy to knock them out in the group stages before losing to the Netherlands only on penalties in the quarter-finals.

That had an additional benefit for Scottish football’s image in his homeland because it now over-shadows their previous greatest triumph at the 1990 World Cup.

Gamboa was only a babe in arms when that took place, but knows all about his compatriots’ unexpected heroics.

“I grew up with this idea of them beating Sweden, beating Scotland and they got to the next round,” he said.

“These guys were big names back home because they did that, but Brazil changed everything.”