It has been reported that Celtic have made an opening bid for 15-year old Motherwell youngster Bailey Rice [Daily Record].
The Scotland U17 international looks highly likely to depart Fir Park this season with Celtic’s Glasgow rivals having also made an opening bid on the highly rated young prospect.
Both clubs are set to face tough competition however with at least one English Premier League side also interested in the player.
With Rice set to turn 16 later this year, if the Steelmen do decide to cash in they could make a handsome sum of money with add-ons built into the deal instead of a compensation package at a lesser extent.
The young defender is seen as a highly exciting prospect with Celtic having previously benefited from the Motherwell youth system with midfielder David Turnbull.
It would be likely that if a deal can be done for Rice, he would be linking up with the Celtic B team who will kick-off their season on Saturday 23 July at home to Cowdenbeath who were relegated from Scottish League 2 last season via the play-off.
With the addition of former Celtic Captain Stephen McManus working with the B team it looks as though there could be a changing approach to try and make it more successful with the side now having experience of the Lowland League.
For Rice, it will be appealing if Celtic can offer him a deal which has a clear pathway for the youngster to move from the B team into the first team if and when ready.
