Goalkeeper Dorus de Vries joins Celtic from Nottingham Forest
Sunday 14 August 2016 11:41, UK
Celtic completed the signing of goalkeeper Dorus de Vries on Saturday, after he signed a two-year deal with the Scottish champions.
The 35-year-old, who had a medical in Glasgow on Friday, has spent the past three years playing in the Sky Bet Championship with Nottingham Forest.
De Vries has previous experience of playing in Scotland with Dunfermline prior to a move to Swansea, where he worked under current Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers.
The Dutchman was in goal for the Pars when they were beaten 1-0 by Celtic in the 2007 Scottish Cup final with a late goal from Jean-Joel Perrier-Doumbe.
Rodgers is delighted to have completed the deal, and insists De Vries will be challenging Craig Gordon as first-choice with the Hoops.
And De Vries will definitely be in the squad for Wednesday's Champions League play-off first-leg tie against Hapoel Beer Sheva at Celtic Park.
"Dorus is one that I obviously know very, very well from my time at Swansea," Rodgers told Sky Sports after the 2-0 defeat to Inter Milan in the International Champions Cup.
"And I like to have a goalkeeper that can be comfortable with his feet, so when you have the ball you have 11 players as opposed to 10 players and a goalkeeper.
"He gives a different dimension to how we want to work, and he's coming here to challenge to be number one.
"So I think it's an excellent signing for us."
While De Vries concedes it was a tough decision to leave the City Ground, the opportunity to play in European competition was a decisive factor in the 'keeper's decision.
De Vries said: "I would like to thank the Forest fans for all their support since I joined the club three years ago.
"It was a difficult decision for me to make but the opportunity was too good to turn down. To have the chance to compete at the highest level in Europe is something I have always targeted, so when my agent told me about the interest from Celtic I knew it was something I needed to look at.
"I would like to thank the Nottingham Forest chairman and staff for their understanding on the negotiations. I would also like to personally thank goalkeeping coach Steve Sutton for everything he has done for me."
