ALEX Valle has expressed hope that having a good grasp of English will help him to integrate into the Celtic squad quickly and thanked his parents for taking him on trips abroad to learn the language as a youngster.

Barcelona left-back Valle joined the Parkhead club on a season-long loan earlier this week and is hoping to make a quickfire debut in the William Hill Premiership match against Rangers this weekend.

The 20-year-old defender impressed reporters at his first press conference yesterday by answering questions without the assistance of the club interpreter who was sitting alongside him.

He revealed that his mother and father had been keen for him to speak English when he was growing up and had taken him on holiday to both England and the Republic of Ireland so he could practice doing so.

The young man who was named in the Team of the Tournament after the European Under-19 Championships in Malta last year believes those experiences will prove invaluable to him in the coming months. 

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“I can see it's really helpful,” he said. “My parents have taught me really well. I've been travelling since I was a kid. I have been on holiday to Ireland and England to learn English, although I’d never been to Scotland. We went to small towns in Ireland. I went to do some tourism to Galway.”

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers speaks good Spanish and Valle confirmed the Northern Irishman had conversed with him in his native tongue since he arrived in Scotland. But he joked: “My English I think is better!”
He added: “I've talked a couple of times with him. He has talked to me about what he wants from me or the position in the team. He has a very dynamic style of playing. In my opinion, it's a really nice style of playing. I really like it.”

(Image: Getty Images) Valle came through at Barcelona’s renowned La Masia academy – which has produced, among many others, exceptional talents like Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi, Gerard Pique and Lamine Yamal over the years – and believes that has given him a solid start in the game.

He also revealed that working with his idol Jordi Alba, the former Barca and Spain left back, when he was a youngster had been a particular inspiration to him.

“The Barca Academy, La Masia as we call it in Barcelona, is amazing,” he said. “They treat you, as you can imagine, very well. All that you need is there. The education, the football academy is perfect, as everyone knows.

“This would be my 11th year there so it's almost my whole sporting life there. It gives you a good grounding for a good career. My base, we would say, is Barca. I've learned almost everything from them, and I'm proud of that.

“I'm really proud of being part of La Masia Productions, we would say. The club has produced some legends of the game. I could say lots of players of legends have been from La Masia Productions. 

“And La Masia still produces nowadays, lots of players you can see in Barca's first team. It's never easy to to arrive at the final stage of FC Barcelona. But I have never been afraid of trying new opportunities or new challenges. I think it's not bad at all. And I'm really happy here.”

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Asked if he had rubbed shoulders with any of the Catalan club’s greats, he said: “It was, as you can imagine, a bit impressive for a 13-year-old guy to see these people. I arrived to train with Jordi Alba, Piqué, Busquets, these people. It was amazing for a young player.

“They were very good to me. Jordi Alba, for me, was my idol, and to be able to train with him was, for me, the best. I trained for a few months with him and he gave me a lot of good advice. Then, when I went on loan, he wished me good luck with a message. It was a really good gesture.

“It was an amazing experience training with the first team. I was just 17 at the time and I was around the first team. I went to the USA with the squad last year. So, those were nice experiences.

“You can see it now in Barca, for all the youngsters that are playing as starters in La Liga. It's difficult to handle, but you start to get used to it at a really young age, because Barca moves a lot of people.”