Celtic

Celtic: Journalist makes promising claim on summer transfers

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Image for Celtic: Journalist makes promising claim on summer transfers

Journalist Anthony Joseph has claimed that if Manchester City have some exciting young talent, Celtic’s relationship with the club puts them in good stead to have the pick of the bunch.

Celtic impressively won the Scottish Premiership last season, having fallen short by 25 points in the previous campaign, so evidently, Ange Postecoglou has had a positive impact at the club, after not only closing the gap but also winning the title by four points.

With Celtic winning the SPFL, the Hoops earned qualification to the Champions League group stages, so Postecoglou will be looking to strengthen his squad, and their relationship with Manchester City could come in handy. In May, Mark Lawwell was appointed as Head of First Team Scouting and Recruitment, after he previously worked at City for 10 years.

Having signed a number of talents from Manchester City in recent years, Joseph has claimed to GiveMeSport that Celtic might be keen to dip into City’s youth ranks if players become available.

He said: “Celtic have a great relationship with them.

“Fergal Harkin is leaving to become director of football at Standard Liege, so that’s one close contact leaving, but Mark Lawwell, who was working at the City Group is now Celtic’s Head of Recruitment; he’ll know the players.

“Gary Caldwell is also there, who was working alongside Harkin, so there’s a lot of close relationships. And if City have some young emerging talent, you bet Celtic will be all over that.”

TIF Thoughts on Joseph’s comments…

Patrick Roberts had an impressive spell at Celtic following his move from Manchester City after he wasn’t getting his desired game time in England. During the 2016/17 Scottish Premiership season, he netted nine times and registered 14 assists in 32 games.

The youngsters at City may have seen the story of Roberts and think that they can emulate this. Even talents such as Cameron Carter-Vickers, who spent last season on loan at Parkhead from Tottenham Hotspur and was named in the SPL Team of the Season could be an inspiration for the young players at City to get regular first-team football and move to Celtic, so you can see how the clubs’ relationship can potentially help facilitate transfer deals between the teams.

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