Celtic winger Mikey Johnston has demanded that he is allowed to leave the club on loan if he is not going to be handed more senior game time by manager Brendan Rodgers during the upcoming season.
The 19-year-old forward has just four first team appearances for the Hoops under his belt after coming through the youth ranks at Parkhead but is training alongside the senior squad this summer.
Having not ever left the Bhoys, the left-sided flyer has insisted this is the summer that he must head out temporarily to get some more game time, but could stay on the one condition that Rodgers provides him the chance to prove himself among the Celtic stars.
He told the Daily Record: “I want to be here as long as possible and break into the first team. If this isn’t my year then I’ll need to go somewhere else to play. I’ll see what the gaffer thinks.
“You need to be ready to step in when you get the chance. You’re there to prove a point and it’s always going to be hard because there are so many good players here.
“I’ll keep working hard to show the manager that I can be trusted. I want to go out and play the way I always have done. It’s got me this far so I don’t see any need to change.”
Opinion
Celtic have proven that they can produce some seriously talented homegrown talent thanks to the emergence of Kieran Tierney and James Forrest, and Johnston is hoping to be the next young star to follow in their footsteps. He does have a mighty battle ahead of him if he is to command a first team position next season though, with so much quality ahead of him in the same position, and perhaps a loan spell away from the club would be best for his career and development right now. It all depends on whether Rodgers feels he needs the game time, or whether learning under his tutelage, as well as being alongside the first team in training, would be more beneficial than playing at a lesser quality of football. Either way, the young flyer has made his thoughts on the matter clear as day, and it is now up to the manager to make that decision.