Jeremy Toljan has revealed that Celtic’s European adventures swung his decision to make a deadline day loan switch to the club.

The 24-year-old full-back watched YouTube highlights of Celtic’s 2012 win over Barcelona at Celtic Park as he factored in where to spend the latter half of the season. Toljan is understood to have attracted interest from Italy too with Napoli keen on his services, but it is at Celtic where he hopes to start clocking up significant game time.

“I know Celtic are a big club with amazing fans and an amazing stadium,” he said.

“I have seen highlights of European games so I think they are a big club who are known all over Europe.

“I remember one game in particular, when they played Barcelona. It’s a game that is stuck in my memory."

Meanwhile, the fullback has maintained that his style of play is perfectly suited to the offensive and aggressive style that Rodgers looks for.

“I can play right back or left back," he said. "I’m a quick, offensive player. I want to go forward and I also like to score goals so hopefully I can do that at Celtic.

“I didn’t really model myself on any particular player when I was younger.

“Of course, Phillip Lam was one of the best full backs of all time so he is a role model for guys like me, but I’m not trying to be him. I’m trying to be me.

“I think Celtic’s style suits me well. They play offensive football and score many goals so this could be a good match for me."

Toljan spoke at length with Rodgers on the phone before a face-to-face chat yesterday morning, Having fallen out of favour at Dortmund this season, Toljan needs game time and was impressed with Rodgers' philosophy.

“The coach is a big factor when you move to a club and I had good conversations with Brendan Rodgers," he said.

“I knew of him because he managed good clubs in the Premier League.

“We spoke on the phone and he told me what kind of club Celtic is and his idea of football and how he sees me helping the team.

“I had other options but the conversation was good and I decided to sign for Celtic.

“I have come here because I want playing time.

“It’s always frustrating when you are not playing so I hope I can get regular football with Celtic.

“I played quite a lot last season but we had a difficult season. The whole team did not do so well.

“So this season there has been more competition and the team has been doing a lot better and when that happens then it’s hard for the coach to change anything.

“He has chosen to play Łukasz Piszczek or Achraf Hakimi in that position so I decided that I needed to go on loan to get games.

“I like big games. I like to play at a high level in competitive games and I’m looking forward to doing that."

While he has not had regular football this season, Toljan has trained and played in Borussia Dortmund's friendly games at their winter training camp. Tomorrow's game against St Johnstone might come too quickly for him but he expects to be on the pitch sooner rather than later.

“I’m fit and ready," he said. "I did all the sessions in the mid-season training camp with Dortmund and played some friendly games so I feel good."