Even in New York, Scott Sinclair couldn’t quite get away from it all.

“In Central Park a Celtic fan came up and said he’d watched the last game,” smiled the Englishman. ”It’s quite funny when you go to a place such as New York and across the world and you see Celtic fans.”

It would have been a heroes welcomes for Sinclair after a campaign in which he swept the board in terms of personal accolades while he had cause to reflect on an historic campaign that saw Celtic not only claim a Treble but go through the domestic season unbeaten.

And as summers go, this one has been more notable than most for Sinclair.

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There is no doubt this year about the direction his career is taking, a welcome respite from recent campaigns that brought forth different anxieties in the past.

Sinclair may have had a shorter time in the sun that he would have liked before reporting back to Celtic Park on Monday for pre-season training but the winger is well aware about where he is going under Brendan Rodgers.

“I’m so relaxed now,” he said “I’ve had a nice break with my family and come back ready to go again. I want to have a better season than the last one. Over the last few years every summer I wasn’t too sure what was going to be happening, whether I would be leaving and going somewhere else. So it’s great to have a summer just to enjoy it and not worry about anything.

“This is the first time I’ve only had three weeks, I normally get longer. But we also get the winter break so it’s alright. That helps break things up during the season.”

If there was just one blip on Sinclair’s season it might have been the lack of international recognition that came with his sustained Celtic performances.

Realistically it might seem that Sinclair’s aspirations amount to little more than a long shot given the historic reluctance of the FA to look beyond the border, but the player has admitted that he couldn’t help but think of what might have been as he watched Scotland’s against England at Hampden from a Majorcan bar.

“As a professional you’re always judging each other and picking things out about whether you’re better or not than those playing,” he said.

“There’s always going to be speculation about England. I still want to play for my country, I’m still ambitious. But things like that are out of my control. All I can control is what I do on the field every Saturday. So I’ll just concentrate on trying to do well for Celtic and see what happens.

“It’s difficult to get in but people keep mentioning me. All I can do is try to continue what I showed last season. The Champions League will help but it might not decide whether I get called up or not.”

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With plenty of familiar faces on view at Hampden as Scott Brown, Leigh Griffiths, Craig Gordon, Kieran Tierney and Stuart Armstrong all started the game, Sinclair admitted to some ambiguity when watching the game.

“It was a weird one,” he smiled. “You want your mates to do well but I’m English. How did I feel when Griff got his second? I can’t really answer that! He’ll be buzzing after that and it would have been great to have seen him the next day after that. I thought he would score them both. He’s got an amazing free kick delivery.”

So far Jonny Hayes is the only new addition to Brendan Rodgers’ squad. The Republic of Ireland internationalist was seen, perhaps unfairly, as something of an underwhelming signing with Celtic fans keen on a marquee signing to supplement their Champions League ambitions.

For Sinclair, though, the manner in which Rodgers went about things in his inaugural season at Celtic suggests he has earned the right to do what he wants in the transfer market without eyebrows being raised.

“He’s a good player,” said Sinclair. “All the players trust the manager to bring in the players he believes should be added to the squad and his arrival is great for competition.

“The manager has done what he has done and everyone trusts him and all the players he buys and all the others agree with the manager.”

Sinclair will be straight into competitive games with Celtic’s kicking off their Champions League qualifiers within a few weeks.

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Linfield look like the likely opponents for the second qualifying round, assuming the Belfast side see off their San Marino minnows in their opening qualifier, but despite the tensions around the game, Sinclair is focused on getting back into the group stages.

“I’m looking forward to it,” he said. “I wasn’t here in time for it all last year but there’s the pressure of getting into the Champions League. I’m going to enjoy every minute of it. You don’t really have this situation down south but if you can win your last game and get in to the Champions League it will be a great feeling. That’s what we want to do again.

“I’m looking forward to it, everyone keeps telling me how it will be hostile. We’re going to have to wait and see how it is.

“When you go into the match you just focus on the game and nothing around about it, you go and give it 100 per cent and make sure you perform.”