Olivier Ntcham has spoken out to clear up the confusion about his international intentions.
The midfielder has played for France at all youth levels and was in the squad that reached the semi-finals of the European Championships in the summer to qualify for next year’s Olympic Games in Japan.
With his parents being from Cameroon Ntcham also qualifiers to play for the African nation but right now his full focus is on club football despite recent speculation that he was about to make his debut for Cameroon.
The Scotsman reports:
Speaking to the Celtic View, the former Manchester City youngster said: “The Cameroon manager [Toni Conceição] approached me last year about [representing the team at senior level]. We talked, and I told him my targets.
“We spoke again recently when I was preparing for the Europa League games but I told him international football was not my priority right now. I told him I had to make sure I got back in the Celtic team first. Once I did that, then I can think about football.”
After a brilliant first season at Celtic, last season was one to forget for the £4.5m signing from Manchester City.
Earlier this season Neil Lennon said that he was finding it difficult to keep Ntcham out of his side but the performances of Scott Brown, Callum McGregor and Ryan Christie have been impossible to overlook.
With the benefits of a mini-break while many of his team-mates were away on international duty Ntcham will be looking for increased game time as Celtic enter the congested December fixture schedule.