 Hinkel will be available for Celtic's Scottish Cup match at the weekend |
Andreas Hinkel insists that his move to Celtic can help relaunch his international career with Germany. The 25-year-old right-back won the last of his 17 caps in September 2005.
"Five years ago I played for Stuttgart against Celtic and everybody knows that Celtic are always playing at the top level," said Hinkel.
"But the main reason for my decision is that I want to be part of the national team again and if I play well then I will automatically be part of it."
Hinkel left Stuttgart for Sevilla in June 2006 but did not make the host nation's World Cup squad that year.
And, with Brazilian Daniel Alves keeping him out of the Sevilla team, his international career has stalled.
Fellow Germans Celtic striker Andreas Thom, and ex-Rangers stars Jorg Albertz, Stefan Klos and Christian Nerlinger all saw their international ambitions flounder on arrival in Scotland.
But Hinkel, who rejected the chance to join Borussia Dortmund, believes he has made the right move.
"Celtic's recent Champions League record is part of the decision," he added.
"I didn't speak to former players but I know that there were several German players who have played in Scotland.
"But I asked other people if it would be the right decision to come here.
"They told me that the Scots are open-minded, friendly and that it would be a good decision to come."
Celtic manager Gordon Strachan confirmed that Hinkel would be in the squad for the Scottish Cup tie against Stirling Albion on Saturday.
He joked: "He could be or I will be in trouble with Peter Lawwell (chief executive) and Dermot (Desmond, club owner).
"We have been looking at Andreas since the start of the season, so it's been a long time.
"Obviously we remembered that he played for Stuttgart against us but we did our homework.
"Our scouts have done a fantastic job and everybody was positive.
"Andreas is an all-rounder. We were attracted by his professionalism, his attitude, the whole package."
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Press conference: Celtic manager Gordon Strachan
We were attracted by his professionalism, his attitude, the whole package
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