da poker： After winning the Scottish Premiership, Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup, Celtic are in as strong a position as they’ve been in Scottish football for 16 years. Brendan Rodgers has his team moving in the right direction and that makes this upcoming summer transfer window one of maintenance rather than upheaval.
da lvbet： There’s unlikely to be a big turnover of players but adding quality in key areas and perhaps some young players in other areas is still likely to be a big priority for the Hoops boss.
After reports linking Jonny Hayes with a move to Glasgow this week, it’s clear that Rodgers is not against shopping within the Scottish market for players he thinks can make an impact at Celtic Park.
It’s a market Celtic have often dipped into over the years with varying success but when you look at the likes of Scott Brown, Stuart Armstrong and Leigh Griffiths, it’s something you can’t discount completely.
Here are THREE players in Scottish football beyond Hayes that Celtic should take a look at this summer…
John McGinn
22-year-old John McGinn has been a massive part of Neil Lennon’s success as Hibernian manager. Hibs are on their way back to the Scottish Premiership next season after finally managing to negotiate automatic promotion from the Championship and McGinn was a stand-out.
He won the PFA Scotland Championship Player Of The Year Award, recognition from his fellow professionals that he’s a standard above most other players in the division.
His form in recent years has attracted the attention of Gordon Strachan, who regularly names the midfielder in his Scotland squads. The former St Mirren man has won three caps for his country.
That points to his potential and in an already predominately Scottish midfield, McGinn could be the next project that Brendan Rodgers turns into an elite player at the Hoops.
Having already won a League Cup with the Buddies and a Scottish Cup with Hibernian, it’s clear he has a winning mentality that would fit in well at Celtic Park.
Liam Lindsay
Liam Lindsay is one of the brightest young defensive prospects in the Scottish Premiership and was the only player outside of Celtic and Aberdeen to make it into the division’s ‘Team Of The Year’ in the end-of-season awards. Still just 21 years of age, he’s been one of the key reasons Partick Thistle have had their best top-flight finish for over 35 years.
Tall and physical at 6ft 3in, he has the attributes to be a excellent defender for the Hoops and also has the technical ability and confidence to be a part of Brendan Rodgers’ system, a manager who likes his teams to pass the ball out from the back.
Perhaps surprisingly he’s yet to feature for Scotland at any age level but his form for Thistle over the last two seasons points to a player who could be a future international.
With Celtic needing bodies in at the back due to Efe Ambrose departing and Kolo Toure’s contract situation still awaiting resolution, a move for one of Scotland’s better defenders makes sense, especially as he has the potential to improve even further.
Joe Lewis
Outside of Craig Gordon, Joe Lewis is undoubtedly the best goalkeeper in Scotland and has played a massive part in Aberdeen’s journey to second place in all three major competitions in the country.
If Celtic fans need convincing that he could have a future at the club, they need only look at his performance in the recent Scottish Cup Final when he thwarted the Hoops time and again across the 90 minutes before finally being beaten by Tom Rogic.
The former Cardiff and Fulham man would be the ideal back up to Craig Gordon with the likes of Logan Bailly and Dorus De Vries unlikely to have a long-term future at the club. At 29 years of age he’s still young, for a goalkeeper at least, and has shown he has what it takes to be a reliable figure between the sticks in the Scottish top-flight.