Nicolas Kuhn: Celtic 'a big step to a big club' as winger eyes Germany call-up
- Published
Nicolas Kuhn says a call from Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers persuaded him to sign
Nicolas Kuhn has been on the books at RB Leipzig, Ajax and Bayern Munich but thinks joining Celtic is "a big step to a big club" that will help him break into Germany's national squad.
The 24-year-old winger switched to the Scottish Premiership leaders from Rapid Vienna on Tuesday.
It was in Austria where he became a first-team regular in a top flight.
"I've improved a lot, I think - I've now played regularly and I've stayed fit," Kuhn said.
"Now I can show what I'm able to do. Of course, in the future, I want to play for the national team as well."
Kuhn, who represented his country up to under-20 level, has played 22 times for Rapid this season, scoring three goals, in his second season with the side sitting sixth in the Austrian Bundesliga.
While he did not make the breakthrough at Leipzig, Ajax and Bayern, he pointed out that he "learned a lot" training with the likes of Robert Lewandowski and Joshua Kimmich at the German champions.
"Of course they were big clubs - it was a good school," he said. "At Ajax, I played with the whole squad that got to the semi-finals of the Champions League - I trained the whole year with the first team.
"At Bayern, I played with players like Lewandowski and Kimmich and all the guys you know.
"I think at Ajax I did really good in the youths. When I first arrived, we won the second league with the second team. I trained the whole time with the first team. In the youth league, I was the top scorer and I deserved a chance.
"But then I made the move to Bayern. After the first season, we were also champions with the second team in the third league in Germany. Then there were some private problems, so I made a step back."
That step back was initially on loan to Erzgebirge Aue in Germany's second tier before joining Rapid in 2022.
"People were looking at where I was playing, but for me it was a good step," Kuhn said. "So I can take two steps forward now."
Kuhn had "some interest from other clubs", but a chat with manager Brendan Rodgers made up his mind to make the move to Glasgow.
"We had some really good meetings, we talked a lot and he told me what a great and big club this is, although I knew about Celtic before and I also saw some games," he added.
"It was clear at the moment Celtic called and showed interest that I wanted to come here."
Our coverage of Celtic is bigger and better than ever before - here's everything you need to know to make sure you never miss a moment