The midfielder left Celtic to join Marseille in the winter transfer window on a loan deal with an option to buy for a fee of around €5.5m in the summer.

 

The Frenchman’s arrival caused a major upheaval at Marseille as Andre Villas-Boas offered his resignation and was removed a few hours later for publicly criticising the board.

 

 

However, the midfielder stressed that he has been welcomed into the squad by the players and he feels well-settled around his new team-mates.

 

He said in a press conference: “I was received well by the squad, despite the fact that I haven’t trained yet.

 

 

“It was my first session today as I was in quarantine. But I knew some of the players from the France Under-21 squad and they were nice to me.”

 

Ntcham stressed that despite the difficult situation surrounding his arrival, he never considered refusing Marseille as for a Frenchman they are as big as Barcelona or Real Madrid.

 

 

“I would not have doubted coming here.

 

“Whether the situation is good or bad, Marseille cannot be refused.

 

“It’s like when Barcelona or Real Madrid call you, you do not say no.

 

“For a Frenchman, Marseille will be Marseille.”

 

Ntcham played 147 times for Celtic, scoring 24 goals and won three Scottish Premiership titles amongst various other honours, and it remains to be seen if he will add to those numbers.