Tedious, long and painful. That is how the last week or two has been for Nick Kuhn as he awaited the green light to finally make his move from Rapid Vienna to Celtic. Though, the winger has got used to the feeling of late.

Just prior to Christmas, he had his wisdom teeth removed, resulting in a drastic loss of weight which he is still in the process of putting back on. So, if he were to compare the wait for his transfer to Glasgow to be rubber-stamped to pulling teeth, he would – quite literally – know what he was talking about.

As he settled into his new surroundings yesterday, he was all smiles, with his gnashers now on the mend, the pounds slowly but surely piling back on, and the ink finally drying on his new five-and-a-half-year Celtic contract.

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For the German, it was evidently worth the wait, and now he is hoping that his new supporters will feel the same way when they see him in action, which could be as early as this Sunday’s Scottish Cup tie against Buckie Thistle.

“It was my first training session [on Wednesday] for four or five weeks because in Austria you have the winter break,” Kuhn said.

“I was just running at home. So, of course, [it] was a tough session for me and I felt it. But over the next few days I should get better and better.

“I also had my wisdom teeth taken out in the middle of December and I lost a lot of weight because I couldn’t eat for 12 days. So, we need to try to get the kilos back. I need to try to build it all back up.

“I couldn’t really eat because it was too painful, I still have two on the left-hand side, but I think I’m going to keep them!

“In the beginning when the interest first came [from Celtic], I knew it was not going to be so easy that they will just let me go and say goodbye. They wanted to keep me in Vienna. They knew that if I was staying fit and played all the games, they could even get more money or something.

“Also, some wingers went away and another one broke his ankle in the last training session. That meant they also had to find someone to play in my position. I was waiting around at home hoping to get the next flight, but I had to wait until I got the green light.

“But I had a good relationship with the president and all the staff and trainers, so I was hoping that it would go quickly. I had some meetings with them and of course they wanted to keep me, but I told them it was a great opportunity and I wanted to make that next step.”

Celtic fans will be hoping that Kuhn can hit the ground running, and he certainly did just that as he took his new teammates aback somewhat with his turn of pace in his first session at Lennoxtown.

“This season my fastest is 37km per hour,” he said.

“But my manager [agent Christian Nerlinger] told me there is one pitch in the league which goes a little bit uphill. Maybe I’ll be quicker when I’m running down the slope!

“It’s always been a strength of mine. To be that fast is always good and you have the technique as well it means you can always be dangerous for the opponent.

“I want to show the fans what I am capable of. The type of player I am, I have a lot of speed. I love one-against-one situations even more. So that’s what the fans can expect.

“At 24 I feel I have a lot of improvement to come too. There is going to be a nice big step for me next. I feel there is a lot more inside of me.”

Worry not though Celtic fans. Having room for improvement, and falling into that dreaded category of a Celtic ‘project’, are two entirely different things in Kuhn’s view.

“I think I have the quality to play now and decide the game,” he said.

“I believe I could make an impact immediately.

“I have had some really good talks with the manager already. He convinced me that this is a really nice big club.

“He wants to get me into situations where it is dangerous for the opponents.

“Then I can show my qualities.”

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It would be fair to say that Kuhn has not quite yet managed to do that on a consistent basis in a career that has promised so much, but as yet, has failed to really catch fire.

Having come through the youth system at RB Leipzig, and gone on to play for both Ajax and Bayern Munich at youth level, he is well equipped to handle the pressures of representing a big club, and he is hoping that his move to Celtic is the moment he truly arrives as a key man for such an institution.

He is using the example of those who coached him and who he played alongside in those formative years, particularly when he was in Amsterdam, as his inspiration.

“At the time we had Michael Reizeger as a coach who played for Barcelona,” he said.

“We were training on the pitch one day and he told us ‘every one of you is going to be a professional football player, we are just going to see where’.

“For example, I played with Ryan Gravenberch, who sometimes stays in touch, and he now plays for Liverpool. There was Jurrien Timber, who now plays for Arsenal. A lot of the guys made great steps and I saw a lot of talented players.

“The last two years was getting better and better again [for me]. There were some injuries which you cannot control. I’ve been to big clubs already and I’m not old.

“But for me the most important thing is to stay healthy and to be playing on the pitch every week. Then I can grow and become even better.”