How signing Alexandro Bernabei earned Celtic the support of an entire Argentinian village

Alexandro Bernabei hopes he can become a trailblazer after becoming the first player from Argentina to sign for Celtic.

Remarkably, the 21-year-old left back, who has signed a five-year contract, has already written himself into the club's history books.

Now he wants to be such a success that others from his homeland will follow him.

“For me, being the first Argentinian player at Celtic means I would like to open the door for a lot more Argentinian players to come to the club,” he said.

Perhaps more importantly, he now wants to make every inhabitant in his home village of Correa proud of what he achieves as he treads new ground.

“It really makes the people proud when one of us has success,” the left-back said. “Especially my family. What I do makes them proud and that’s important to me. But all 6000 people in the village are now Celtic fans.”

Bernabei's move from Club Atletico Lanus to Celtic in a deal that could be worth up to £3.75 million means the Parkhead club have put right a surprising omission.

Celtic have recruited players from Brazil, for example, with variable results, but never Argentina. Rangers, meanwhile, have signed two – Claudio Caniggia, most memorably, and Gabriel Amato.

Perhaps the enmity aroused by the notoriously violent Intercontinental Cup series of fixtures against Racing Club of Buenos Aires in 1967 accounts for the fact Argentina has remained untapped by Celtic for so long.

Bernabei hopes to ensure he can forge a better association between the club and country. Already capped at Under-23 level, he wants to use Celtic as a springboard for full international recognition.

“I hope this will allow me one day to make another one of my dreams come true and play for the Argentina national team,” he