Celtic finally signed Georgios Samaras, the Greece striker, on a long-term contract yesterday after Gordon Strachan decided that he had seen enough during the player’s recent five-month loan spell to warrant a £1 million transfer from Manchester City.

Samaras signed a three-year deal and insisted that, of all the clubs expressing an interest in him, Celtic was his favoured destination. The striker made only one appearance, as a substitute, for Greece at Euro 2008, and some Celtic supporters will heatedly dispute his true ability, but Samaras himself was delighted with the deal.

The transfer fee would appear to amount to a huge loss for Manchester City, who are believed to have written off £5 million on the player after signing him for £6 million from Heerenveen two seasons ago.

“Staying with Celtic was my first choice,” Samaras said. “I didn’t want to stay at Manchester City and the door was closed to other clubs. I never spoke officially or unofficially to any other clubs, my priority was Celtic, and I was focused on them.

“Celtic is one of the biggest clubs in Europe, winning trophies and playing in the Champions League, and that’s why I’m here. I had a beautiful four months in Glasgow last season. I enjoyed the football, and the attitude and mentality of this club is exactly how I think about football - always attacking.”

Ironically, Samaras was handed only occasional starts during his loan spell at the club last season, with Strachan, the manager, preferring to go with Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and Scott McDonald, who notched 51 goals between them as Celtic captured their third Clydesdale Bank Premier League title in succession.

Samaras feels that Vennegoor of Hesselink and McDonald will remain Celtic’s first-choice attack. “Jan and Scott scored a lot of goals last season but I will try to push them hard,” he said. “I will push to try and make the attack more competitive, which is good for the club. It’s up to the gaffer who starts next season - he will see who is better, fitter in training and working harder. But I’m here because Celtic want me, they respect me and they trust me.

“I know the size of Celtic. It’s a massive club with a lot of supporters. You must handle the pressure because you must win every game and I’m here to win.”

Meanwhile, Andrius Velicka, Rangers’ new striker, has joined the squad at their preseason base in Holland after completing his £1 million move from Viking Stavanger.

“I have known this club from when I was a kid,” the 29 year old Lithuanian said. “I was always interested in this club so this is a dream come true. Nine years ago when I came to Ibrox [with FB Kaunas] it was the first time I had seen a stadium like that in my life. I couldn’t forget that and when I came for the second time it was still amazing. Now it will be my home pitch.”

Walter Smith, the Rangers manager, will check on the Lithuania international’s fitness before deciding whether he will play against Sportfreunde Lotte tomorrow or Schalke 04 on Saturday. “He didn’t play in the last couple of games for Viking, but that might be because they were making sure he didn’t suffer any knocks before coming to join us,” Smith said. “We will let him get involved in training this week and make a decision on whether we use him in the remaining matches here.”

Velicka will be keen to get involved as soon as possible to give himself a good chance of facing Kaunas or Santa Coloma, the Andorran side, in the first leg of the Champions League second qualifying round on July 30. The forward should be one of the sharper players in the Rangers ranks after playing throughout the summer months in Norway.

George Burley is confident that Barry Ferguson’s absence will not scupper Scotland’s 2010 World Cup qualification hopes. The national captain had an ankle operation on Monday that could keep him sidelined for up to four months, so he will miss the first two games of the campaign, away to Macedonia and Iceland in September. “I feel we are very strong in the midfield with five or six very good players so we have quality in abundance,” the manager said.