Celtic made the announcement today that 13 players have put pen to paper on their first professional contracts at the club, and there were two notable names included after recent media speculation.
The full list of players is: Kalvin Bennett, Cole Crawford, Rhys Dargie, Ronan Ferns, Marcus Gill, Finlay Hale, Robbie Heron, Samuel Isiguzo, Andrew Kyle, Jamie Meikle, Tom Pickford, Robert Rachwal and Aidan Rice.
All of them have signed three-year contracts, committing their immediate futures to the Bhoys with the hope of making progress within the Celtic U18 and Celtic B set-up.
Pleasingly, both Ferns and Hale are included on the list after significant interest from English clubs over the last few months.
The Daily Record reported back in June that defender Ferns, still just 16, was on the verge of a move to Brighton & Hove Albion and that the clubs were even coming to terms on a transfer fee to avoid a compensation wrangle.
It was also reported by Football Scotland last month that a number of English sides had been keen on Hale, who has shown versatility playing as a centre-back and left-back.
Both talents are Scottish youth internationals and are thought to have a bright future. Celtic retaining the best prospects from the Academy on professional deals is crucial, so it’s pleasing to see interest from elsewhere fended off for a change.
Prospects such as Ben Doak, Liam Morrison and Josh Adam have all left for big clubs around Europe in recent years.
If Celtic can begin to reverse this trend, it will hopefully make a difference in seeing more youngsters bridge the gap between the Academy and the first team.
In other news, Reported Celtic transfer target makes UEFA Super Cup squad.
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