A trio of Manchester City youngsters has been suggested as possible transfer targets for incoming boss Ange Postecoglou.
According to the Manchester Evening Times, James Trafford, Liam Delap, and Cole Palmer could make their way to Parkhead. The Hoops are considered a possible transfer destination on loan next season.
“City and their manager have shown a willingness to send players out to clubs or managers that they have faith in; Marcelo Bielsa was entrusted with Jack Harrison at Leeds while Tony Mowbray’s Blackburn have brought on defenders Tosin Adarabioyo and Taylor Harwood-Bellis.
“Postecoglou’s arrival in Glasgow could see Celtic come under consideration: as well as the pressures that come for playing at a big club challenging for trophies in a passionate footballing city, and the prospect of Champions League or Europa League football, a football philosophy from the Guardiola textbook would make Celtic an attractive option again for the Blues.
“Young goalkeeper James Trafford is among the next batch of City youngsters certain to go out on loan next seasons, while decisions are still to be finalised on a number of others including Liam Delap and Cole Palmer.”
In the last few years, Celtic have had their connections with the City Group, bringing in Oliver Ntcham, Patrick Roberts and Jason Denayer, only to name a few, either making the permanent switch or joining on loan.
The new manager, Ange Postecoglou, also has his own links to the City group, with his last job in Japan at Yokohama F Marinos being part of that same group.
This summer, we require several new recruits for the first team, so you imagine at least some loan deals would be likely, just as we have used in the past.
Players such as Liam Delap have been touted for a huge future in the game, having already made first-team appearances for the current English Premier League Champions.
So, it wouldn’t come as much of a surprise to see a player coming from Pep Guardiola’s side, temporarily up north to Scotland.
I think we should firstly look at our own academy and any external ones after that. We have lost a lot of talented teenagers recently and we need to reverse that trend. Imagine if Postecoglou held a meeting with the junior players and told them they will all be given a chance to impress and that his team would be checking in for weekly updates. It would be a big morale booster. After that, then we could look at other teams youth players, we cannot afford to keep losing our own
I do not like this “city link” one little bit.