Furman played for Celtic’s bitter rivals Glasgow Rangers between 2008 and 2009, and rates the league as a strong one for Coetzee to start his European career. Coetzee will work with former Liverpool coach Brendan Rodgers.
"To be honest, Celtic contacted me because I played under Rodgers. They wanted to ask me about Rivaldo. I believe he can handle the physical aspect of the league,” Furman tells snl24.com/kickoff.
"He was thrown into Bafana at a young age and he was never out-muscled against the big guys in African football. I think he will adapt his game to the Scottish League. He will be working with one of the best coaches in Brendan Rodgers. I imagine his game will improve incredibly."
Celtic is arguably the biggest club in Scotland and they pride themselves in having young talent from their academy. This means Coetzee will have tough competition when he gets there.
"It’s a great opportunity for any young player to play for a team the size of Celtic. They are a huge club and get to play in the Champions League and they win silverware.
"Rivaldo is probably excited. They have a good academy set-up and there will be other players coming up, so there will be competition. It’s going to be a big challenge for him and hopefully he can rise to it."