Speaking recently on the A Celtic State of Mind podcast, Paul John Dykes discussed Celtic’s link with Crystal Palace midfielder, James McCarthy.
Since joining Palace from Everton last summer in what was a £2.97 million deal, McCarthy has gone on to make 35 appearances for the club, scoring no goals and providing no assists as yet.
Thirty-three of these appearances came in the 2019/20 Premier League campaign, over which the midfielder averaged 2.5 tackles, 0.7 interceptions and 0.5 key passes per game, as well as making on average 23.7 passes per game with a success rate of 77.8%, all of which culminated in a disappointing average WhoScored match rating of 6.42 – ranking him as the club’s 18th-best performer in the league.
However, despite this rather poor season by the 29-year-old, it has been reported that Celtic are interested in making a move for the midfielder this summer, with 90min even stating last month that Neil Lennon’s side was ‘confident’ of landing the Republic of Ireland international.
McCarthy’s potential move to Celtic was one topic of conversation on a recent episode of the A Celtic State of Mind podcast, with the podcast’s host, Paul John Dykes, claiming that the midfielder would move to Celtic “in a heartbeat”.
In response to a question asking whether or not Dykes believed that McCarthy could have an influence on the Celtic side, he said:
“I think he could. Looking at some of the injury issues that he’s had over the last few years, it’s stifled his progress a wee bit.
“He’s a regular in the Republic of Ireland squad, he’s a Celtic man – he would join Celtic in a heartbeat.
“Unfortunately, when it comes to the point where you’re on the kind of wages that James McCarthy is accustomed to, then it would be very difficult to do a deal.
“The problem I would have with a signing of James McCarthy’s ilk, is we don’t need another midfield player.”
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TIF Thoughts…
From Dykes’ comments, then, it would appear as if, while he believes that McCarthy is indeed a “Celtic man”, he feels the wages of the midfielder could prove a stumbling block in Lennon signing the 29-year-old this summer.
Whether or not the £3.6 million-rated McCarthy is willing to take a pay cut to join a club that he is apparently a fan of remains to be seen, however, this could certainly be a deal to keep an eye on as the transfer window progresses.