Oli Burke was only at Celtic for around five months but he has told RecordSport he’s made friends for life at the club.

The player went back to West Brom at the end of last season after failing to convince new manager Neil Lennon he was worth trying to sign on a permanent basis. The attacker showed great promise at the start of his loan deal but his influence dissolved in the end.

After the loan move – West Brom director Luke Dowling went to the press and attacked Celtic for their treatment of Oli.

However, his latest comments contradict any suggestion he was treated badly by the club or Neil Lennon. The player has only good memories of Celtic as he spoke about the difference between the Scottish Champions and his new Spanish loan side Alaves.

“I would say it is nowhere near the same to be honest. The pressures at Celtic are sky high while the pressures at Alaves are almost none.

“My time at Celtic, I loved it. I made some friends for life and that was a loan there. This is a smaller city, the fan base isn’t as huge, but the most important thing is to play football.

“You can walk down the street and not get pestered the way you would in Glasgow. It is just a different culture, a different fan base, just very different.

“I just have to see how it goes, if it is going really well for me and I am playing, then I’ll be wanting to stay and progress. You never know where you’re going to end up being in football – clearly! It can change very quickly.”

Burke is back in the Scotland squad in his first call up since leaving Celtic – the lad has pace to burn but really needs to harness his energy.

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