Luke McCowan was in awe after making his Celtic debut during Sunday's 3-0 win over Rangers.
McCowan ended a three-season stay at Dundee by penning a three-year contract with the Glasgow giants on Friday.
Celtic paid £1million for the midfielders services following what was a standout 2023/24 campaign where McCowan scored 10 goals and notched up five assists.
He described the transfer switch as "surreal" and expressed how coming off the bench to play the final 13 minutes against Rangers was a dream come true.
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Speaking to Sky Sports after the match, the former Dundee and Ayr United fan-favourite said: "Amazing, the stuff of dreams really. I'd you told me as a kid that I'm going to come on in a game of that magnitude at Celtic Park, I wouldn't have believed you probably. So, it's amazing achievement for me and the family, but most importantly it's three points for the team and we can move forward now and get time for recovery and stuff."
McCowan was previously captain of Dundee and had interest from Hibernian throughout the summer before Celtic swooped on Deadline Day.
Reflecting on how quickly his switch to the Scottish champions happened, he commented: "No sleep I would say. But it was something that I kind of had to take in more than anything. Everyone around me was telling me to take it in because it can pass quickly and before you know it, it's just hard work and a routine you're in.
"It was hard. I had my wee whoop band on and it was telling me that I wasn't recovered well. But it was an amazing couple of days."
The 26-year-old had a beaming smile on his face when he was captured walking through the Celtic Park tunnel for the first time as an official employee on Friday - and he's desperate to show that he's not just at the club to make up the numbers.
"That was probably my mentality going into it," explained McCowan. "As I said there, taking everything in, what an achievement it is for myself. But now I'm here it's about stepping up and knowing I'm here for a reason, I'm here to compete for places and hopefully get in the starting XI at some point. Even just push players that are in the starting XI, so that's my mentality going forward.
"I don't want to just come and relish being a Celtic player, I want to prove I can be one."
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Asked if Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has set any targets, McCowan noted: "Just to be myself really. Obviously he said they'll be times when you are not used to possession-based football and stuff like that. But just to be myself, to show my qualities, and then from there I can keep improving each week and go from that."
