Paul John Dykes has hosted the latest episode of the A Celtic State of Mind podcast where possible summer departures were the topic of discussion.
One name which was mentioned as a potential summer departure was defender Anthony Ralston with Dykes believing the 22-year-old should be sold rather than sent out on another loan.
Ralston has only made one appearance for Celtic in the Scottish Premiership this season which came in a 0-0 draw against Livingston where the 22-year-old played the full 90 minutes (via Transfermarkt).
Speaking about allowing Ralston to depart the Bhoys on a permanent basis in the summer, Dykes had this to say:
“Ralston, at his age, hasn’t had enough first-team football, certainly for Celtic.
“Even when he comes in and plays reasonably well, I don’t think he’s ever going to get the buy-in from the majority of the Celtic fans. He isn’t the future; he’s not even, I don’t think, the backup next season, and the reason I say that is for the betterment of his own career. You can’t be sitting at Celtic and getting four or five games a season.
“I know he’s had a couple of loan deals out at St. Johnstone and Dundee United. I think we just cut our losses on Anthony Ralston. I’m pretty sure he’ll get a club elsewhere rather than setting up another season-long loan deal.”
Ralston spent the 2019/20 season out at loan with St. Johnstone where the right-back made 22 appearances for the Saints in the league alone (via Transfermarkt).
TIF Thoughts on Dykes’ comments…
Ralston, who is valued at £360k (as per Transfermarkt), has been with Celtic since 2015, however, the 22-year-old should be looking for a club that can provide him with first-team football in order to develop as a player. For someone his age, making just one appearance so far this season will not likely provide a path to work your way into the first team on a permanent basis.
He has already spent time out on loan and that has not proven to benefit his playing time at Parkhead, so a permanent move away looks like it could be Ralston’s best option, as Dykes argues here.