Osaze Urhoghide marked the start of Ange Postecoglou’s transfer business at Celtic when he became the Australian’s first signing.
And the Dutch defender doesn’t want his loan move to KV Oostende to be the beginning of the end of his time at Parkhead.
Instead, the highly-rated stopper hopes his switch to Belgium can prove a springboard to the Hoops first-team in the future.
Urhoghide has moved to the Jupiler Pro League on loan until the end of the season and endured a difficult debut when he was subbed at half-time against Mechelen last week after playing in an unfamiliar right wing-back role.
Celtic fended off interest from a number of top clubs in England and Europe to land the defender from Sheffield Wednesday on a four-year-deal.
But unlike most of Postecoglou’s signings, the 21-year-old has found regular football at Parkhead difficult to come by, with just the one first-team appearance to his name which came against Real Betis in the Europa League in December.
Oostende did some incredible work in rehabilitating Jack Hendry’s career during his loan spell in 2020/21 and Urhoghide will be looking to replicate that as he looks to revive his Celtic career after struggling to make a breakthrough in Glasgow.
Oostende have the option to make the move permanent in the summer, but Urhoghide - who appeared to be on the verge of a loan move to Dundee before it collapsed - has said that Postecoglou believes he still has a future at Celtic.
He said: “I spoke with Ange before I left and he told me he still sees a future at Celtic for me. But right now, my focus is on Oostende. We will see what happens here and will review it in the summer and go from there.
“We wanted to wait and see how January played out first before making a decision but I didn’t play as much as I wanted so I spoke with the manager and he agreed with me. He sees potential in me but wants me to be playing more regular first-team football and develop even more.
“I had some other options to stay closer to home but going abroad will give me a new experience which I’ve never really had before and the Belgian league is of a very high quality. It’s a really good opportunity for me to impress here and develop myself and my career.
“I would say it’s the biggest step of my career so far. It’s not going to be easy here but I’m ready for the exciting challenge ahead and I’m looking to leave Oostende a better player.
“There’re a lot of different languages spoken here but I’ve settled in well and am really enjoying it so far. I made my debut at the weekend and played right wing-back and although that isn’t my normal position and I would prefer playing centre-back going forward, I’m still really enjoying playing football in a different country and embracing a different culture.
“I didn’t really play as much under Ange as I wanted to but I’ve been working really hard behind the scenes to try and get an opportunity. We both felt that I needed to play regular football to progress and work my way into the first-team as they’re flying at the moment and are looking really strong. However, I need to play and develop as well and moving away was the best option at this moment in time.
“It’s been really frustrating that I’ve not been able to showcase what I know I am capable of but that’s football at the end of the day. The manager has to pick a starting 11 and the rest need to fight for a place on the bench and unfortunately, I haven’t been picked often. It’s down to me to develop here at Oostende and hopefully I’ll be able to help Celtic more in the future.
“ Jack Hendry wasn’t the reason I came to Oostende to be honest but I know he done really well for himself here. I knew this was a good opportunity by a team who wanted me and it’s a really good league. It’s a new experience and I feel like I can offer something different to the team.
“I need to show that I can play at a high standard week in week out and develop my defending at centre-back as well. I’ve shown them every day on the training pitch that I’m more than capable but it’s time to show them that I can do the same during games on match days.”
Urhoghide admits life under Postecoglou is different to what he’s experienced in his short career so far and enjoys his exciting and attacking style of football which has been a breath of fresh air to Scottish football.
The 21-year-old said: “Ange’s mentality is completely different to every other manager that I’ve worked with. He wants to play a certain way no matter who we’re playing against whether it’s a European giant or a smaller team. That’s what I really like about him.
“We had a lot of difficulties at the start of the season as a team but as the season has progressed everyone has began to understand Ange’s style of play and we can see just now that it’s paying off.
“We started slowly in the league at the start of the season and lost our first game. People quickly began to question whether or not his style of football was going to work but he told us all to trust the process and stick with it and you can now see that it’s working as we’re flying at the moment.
First-team football has been a rare occurrence for the versatile defender since his arrival from Sheffield Wednesday, but he admitted his debut in the Europa League against Real Betis was a “really special moment” and that he’s hungry to be a part of more of those occasions.
He continued: “I always wanted to get my debut at Celtic Park and it was a really special moment when I got my opportunity against Real Betis as all my family were there as well. It was brilliant to even be part of the matchday squad against Bayer Leverkusen. It made me really hungry to get more opportunities.”
