Craig Gordon has insisted that the lure of being part of Celtic’s current success story was instrumental in his decision to commit his long-term future to the club.

The 34-year-old signed a three-and-a-half year extension to his deal, a move which keeps him at Celtic until 2020.

The Parkhead side turned down two bids for Gordon in the latter days of the January transfer window, and Gordon was insistent that he can fulfil his ambitions with Celtic.

“I’m playing,” he said. “There is no guarantee of playing games down there. I could have done, I might not have done.

“The fact I’m playing, winning, having the opportunity to play in the Champions League and winning those matches, I was desperate to do it.

“That’s why I came here in the first place.

“I’ve had a little taste of it and I’d love to get back there and have some more.

“The fact I’ve been to Sunderland and have played at most of the Premier League grounds, not that I’ve ticked it all off as it’s an incredible league.

‘It was attractive, but at the same time, there was a lot going for the option to stay.

“As I didn’t ever have to make that decision, it never got to that point where I had to weigh it up one against the other.”

And Gordon as insisted that he would never have thrown the toys out pf the pram as Celtic twice rebuffed offers from Chelsea in the January transfer window.

It was suggested during the latter days of the window that Gordon was frustrated at not being able to enter into dialogue with Chelsea, but he has insisted that he was never at the point of causing a stink in order to force the deal through.

"I could have made a big fuss about it and players have done that by coming out publicly to force it through,” he said. "But I am not that type of person. Irrespective of that, the club wanted to keep me and I was happy to stay.

“I could have done, but that’s not really me. It wouldn’t have got me very far. You just get on with it.”

Gordon’s deal will take him up to his late 30’s – but he believes that he can play beyond that.

"Buffon has shown you can play for a long time as a keeper,” he said. “Mark Schwarzer was also playing in the Champions League for Chelsea at 40/41.

"Brad Friedel and Edwin van der Sar both played for a long time.

"Buffon is a couple of years older than me but he will go on until he's 40. Hopefully i can do that as well.

"It's doable. We have good facilities at Celtic that are getting better all the time.

"We have the sport science staff who look after you really well and that side of things is fantastic here.

"We have the opportunity to look after our bodies better than before and push those boundaries back.

"In the next little while, all the improvements in that side will show as players will be able to play for even longer.”