Although their fierce rivals, Rangers, returned to the Premiership last summer, Celtic have dominated like never before – they’ve won 25 out of 26 Premiership matches so far. Their primary goal for the summer will be to keep their current squad, especially the young French gem Moussa Dembele, but they should also look to snatch up some talents from the Scottish Premiership. Here are the players who should be their top priority signings in the summer.
5 Ali Crawford
Ali Crawford is probably the best under-26 player in the league who doesn’t play in Celtic or Rangers. He is a home-grown Hamilton player who scored 14 goals and recorded 8 assists in the league as a left winger.
4 Jack Hamilton
Jack Hamilton is the best young goalkeeper in the league. At only 22, he became Hearts’ number 1. Hamilton featured for all Scotland young teams from U15 to U21 and it is only a matter of time before he debuts for the seniors. Celtic’s goalkeepers are well over thirty so they have to think about their future and there is no better young goalkeeper than Jack Hamilton in Scotland.
3 Callum Paterson
Callum Paterson is another player from Hearts on the list. He is a 22 year old right back, who already played five matches for Scotland senior national team! In addition, his contract with Hearts expires this summer and Celtic can “steal” him for free!
2 Sam Nicholson
Sam Nicholson is another 22-year old from Hearts. He is a left winger, who scored four goals and added three assists for the Hearts this season. He might be a good talent to develop for Celtic. His contract also expires this summer.
1 John Souttar
John Souttar is 20-year old Hearts central defender. He is also a Scottish U21 international and he played 22 games for Hearts this season. He might be a good acquisition for the future.
Of course, Celtic is the team which must rely on finding extraordinary talents from abroad, such as Moussa Dembele. On the other hand, they mustn’t neglect domestic player market, since Rangers will mostly look to improve their squad by buying there.
