Oh Hyeon-gyu settles into life in Glasgow with a little help from Joe Hart

Oh Hyeon-gyu makes his debut appearance for Celtic in a Scottish Premiership game against Dundee United at Tannadice Park in Dundee, Scotland on Jan. 29. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

Oh Hyeon-gyu was eased into his new role at Celtic with a little help from his more seasoned countrymen, with both Son Heung-min and Hwang Hee-chan reaching out to the newest Korean resident of the British Isles after his arrival in the Scottish Premiership last month.

Oh revealed Monday that he not only spoke to Tottenham Hotspur’s Son and Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Hwang, but Son also called Celtic goalkeeper Joe Hart and asked him to look out for Oh.

“Joe Hart was a teammate of Son at Spurs and he’s told me that they’d spoken on the phone and Son told him to look after me,” Oh was quoted as saying by Football Scotland. “He’s been great, he’s been helping me settle in.

“I have spoken to a few of the Korean players who are playing in the UK, guys like Son Heung-min and Hwang Hee-chan at Wolves. They haven’t given me advice as such, but they have told me what the game is like over here and what to expect. They contacted me first and asked me how my life was. I am grateful that Heung-min and Hee-chan got in touch and it gave me great strength.”

Oh signed with Celtic on Jan. 25 in a deal reportedly valued at £2.5 million ($3-million) after a drawn-out transfer saga that saw the Scottish club’s offer initially rejected before both Oh and the Bluewings manager made it clear they thought he deserved the opportunity.

Oh scored 14 goals in 39 appearances across all competitions in the 2022 K League season. He was called up to the senior Korean squad for the first time on Nov. 11, playing 18 minutes of a friendly against Iceland, and landing on the reserves list for the 2022 Qatar World Cup.

The snappy Korean midfielder is still finding his feet in Glasgow, appearing in all four games since his arrival, but until this week it was only ever for less than 20 minutes at the end of the second half.

He picked up his debut goal for Celtic on Saturday in a Scottish Cup clash with St. Mirren.

Oh is the third Korean to play for the Scottish club, following in the footsteps of Ki Sung-yueng and Cha Du-ri.

Son, the most experienced Korean currently active in the Premier League, was teammates with Hart at Tottenham from 2020-21. Although the pair never actually played together, with Hart making no appearances for Tottenham during his time with the squad, they did train together.

Neither Son nor Hwang has ever played with Oh, who was only called up to national team duty last year for game as that did not fall during European football’s international break, so both Premier League players were absent.

Oh did train with the pair ahead of the 2022 Qatar World Cup, however, traveling with the squad as a reserve.

Oh and Hart will be back in action on Saturday as the young Korean star looks to score his first Scottish Premiership goal when Celtic face Aberdeen.

That game will serve as an important warm up for the Scottish League Cup final a week later, when Celtic face bitter rivals Rangers in the hunt for some more silverware.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]