Although his name is infinitely less amusing than that of his illustrious father – Korean legend Cha Bum-Kun (snigger – hey, we're nothing if not extremely juvenile here at ETims) – if recent signing Cha Du-Ri turns out to be half the footballer his father was then Celtic will surely have a decent player. Cha senior was, in 1999, voted the Asian Player of the Century, no less.

But yes, we know the counter argument only too well– see Paul Dalglish, Paul Chalmers, and er, Simon Lynch. Bloodline does count for something, but as any good racehorse trainer will tell you, it offers no guarantees.

More reassuring however is Cha Du-Ri's own record of achievement within professional football –50 caps for South Korea – including recent appearances at the World Cup Finals in South Africa – and the best part of a decade spent playing at the highest level (or the top two tiers) in Germany with Arminia Bielefeld, Eintracht Frankfurt, Mainz, Koblenz, and most recently Freiburg.

From all accounts the Frankfurt-born Cha (who turns 30 this weekend) is an extremely versatile and experienced player who started life as a striker before being converted into a wing-back or attacking (right-sided) fullback. It seems difficult, at this stage at least, to see Cha challenging incumbent Andy Hinkel for that role at Celtic but who is to say that Hinkel will be here for the long-haul?

The cynics out there (you know who you are) will say that Cha is yet another example of Celtic forlornly pursuing Asian marketing opportunities and compromising on player quality in order to do so. I suspect that may well have been the case with the recently departed Zhe Zheng, but I don't buy that argument at all when it comes to Cha Du-Ri.

Let's be clear – Cha isn't the superstar in South Korea that Nakamura once was in Japan, the club already have a link to the Korean market with Ki (if that is even a consideration), but most significantly the "compromise on quality" argument doesn't hold much weight when you look at the player's CV. All indications are that Cha is more than good enough to do a job for Celtic. Bundesliga and World Cup Finals experience? You betcha.

Okay – that World Cup thing also opens up another argument. I could smell the words "Chris Killen" on your rancid breath before you even uttered them ... newsflash: Cha was also a member of the 2002 South Korean squad that made, er, what-was-it? ... the World Cup semi-finals. We're talking a decent level of footballer when it comes to South Korea, and competition for places is fierce. All Killen had to do to make the NZ squad was to see off the challenge of a couple of overweight sheep and a bow-legged farm horse called Colin. And in terms of making the World Cup Finals, bang in a few goals against the only eleven men on the island of Tonga that don't play Rugby. Obviously you'll just have to take my word for that.

So Cha Du-Ri's pedigree can hardly be disputed. What might be more of an issue is just how he'll settle in Scotland. Or to put it another way: how he'll adapt to the rather more brutal footballing experience offered by the Scottish Premierleague.

We'll leave you to ponder that one, but of course only time will provide the definitive answer.

Meanwhile, on behalf of the ever depleting ramshackle bunch of no-names and never-weres that form the core of the ETims team, it's a big warm fuzzy hairy hoary welcome to Mr Cha.

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