Barry Coffey aiming for first-team breakthrough after signing Celtic deal

By John Reid

January 11, 2020

Celtic’s Barry Coffey is the latest Hoops player to commit his future to the club. As confirmed on the Hoops’ Twitter account, Coffey has signed a two-year contract with the Scottish champions.

Coffey has yet to make a senior first-team appearance. However, he is keen to feature for the Hoops after going on the pre-season tour to Austria.

“At the start of the season, it was an unreal experience to be involved with the first team and to play a few games in Austria” Coffey said, as quoted by the official Celtic website.

“I’ll work as hard as I can”

(Photo by Vagelis Georgariou/Action Plus via Getty Images)

“And then I was away with Ireland U-19s at the Euros, which was another fantastic experience. Now, I’ll work as hard as I can at Celtic, and can hopefully catch the gaffer’s eye again.”

Coffey is only 18 and at the start of his career. Therefore, time is on his side when it comes to making his breakthrough to the Hoops first-team.

Place on pre-season tour could bode well for the future

(Photo By Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

However, his commitment to working hard to try to impress Neil Lennon bodes well for his future at Celtic Park. He obviously has impressed the Hoops manager in the past, which is why he travelled on the pre-season tour. For now though, Coffey will be concentrating on performing well for the Hoops Academy side.

If he does manage to catch the manager’s eye, then he could find his way into the first-team squad. After all, Jeremie Frimpong made his Celtic first-team debut when he was 18. Coffey will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of Frimpong.

As Coffey is a central midfielder he might have to wait a while longer for his first-team breakthrough. However, as long as he keeps working hard and performs well for the Academy side and in training, his return to the first-team might come sooner than he expects. The player might yet have another ‘unbelievable experience’ before the end of the season.