John Hartson shared his thoughts on Celtic winger Mikey Johnston when asked about the club reportedly trying to sign PSG attacker Timothy Weah on loan.
The BT Sport was asked about whether Rodgers should go after players like Weah when he has Johnston to call upon and proceeded to rave about the 19-year-old winger.
Harton insisted that if Brendan Rodgers could get quality players through the door then he should but was quick to point out that Johnston had done extremely well and had several things going for him.
“I think if Brendan could get quality players in the door, strikers, then I think he’d take the result on a loan deal, I think the club owe the manager a little bit of backing in the January window as they never got all their targets in the summer so I think Brendan was to say we need to push the boat out for this player on wages then the club will back him,” said Harton on BT Sport when discussing Celtic’s upcoming January window targets.
“But going back to the question, Mikey Johnston has come in and done extremely well but I think the fans have to keep their feet on the ground, sure get excited, yes but he is young, y’know so when you going to the likes of places like this (Aberdeen) and Ibrox you need that little bit of know how.
“But at the moment he is fresh, hungry, got the legs and go with him, I’d go with him.”
OPINION
Hartson has a good point about Johnston. The BT Sport pundit has clearly been impressed with what he has seen of the teenager but he is right to suggest fans need to keep calm about him due to him not having a lot of experience. When facing the bigger sides in the division, Johnston is likely to struggle as more experienced players should be able to get the better of him. However given that the teenager looks lively, unpredictable and full of energy then perhaps his lack of experience can work in his favour. Johnston has all the potential in the world and it’s easy to see why Hartson doesn’t want fans to put the cart before the horse when it comes to the prospect. The teenager’s development wouldn’t be helped by having fans judge his performance too harshly or overhype his ability as it could cause him to lose focus. Also while Hartson wasn’t overly thrilled by the pursuit of PSG’s Weah, as reported by The Celtic Star, it may be a good move if the Hoops pull if off. The 18-year-old may have hardly played senior football but there has been some murmurings of his potential for a while.