Young Celtic defender Hayden Borland has signed a new contract with the club.
The captain of the Celtic B Team, Borland has been a regular under Stephen McManus and Jonny Hayes this season.
He signed his first professional deal with the Hoops in April 2024, but as a result of his consistency at B team level, he has now agreed a two-year extension until 2029.
He has represented Scotland at U16, U17 and U19 levels, playing in the U19 qualifiers last month.
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Celtic B captain Hayden Borland signs new contract
A statement on the Celtic website said on Friday: “Central defender, Hayden Borland, a mainstay of the B Team this term has signed a contract extension with the club until April 2029.
“The 18-year-old centre-back who has three goals to his credit in over 30 Lowland League games so far this season put pen to paper on the two-year extension at Celtic Park.
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“Everyone at Celtic Park wishes Hayden every success as he continues on the Player Pathway at the club.”
The mentioning of a Player Pathway in the statement is particularly interesting, given that current Player Pathways Manager Shaun Maloney is filling in as assistant manager.
Maloney replaced Darren O’Dea, the former B team manager, after he departed over last summer to replace Mark Fotheringham as assistant manager of Swansea. Small world.
Of course, it was just this week that reports emerged that Celtic B will withdraw from the Lowland League at the end of the season.
The decision had reportedly been made due to the Lowland League splitting into West and East divisions for next season.
Additionally, the success of the recently-introduced club co-operation loan system has given the Hoops easier avenues to shipping out young players to clubs at SPFL level.
However, the Lowland League have since contradicted the reports, saying that the Hoops will remain in the Lowland League system next season.
Right now alone, Celtic have six players on loan in the Scottish Championship: two at Partick Thistle and four at Ayr United.
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Other top talents from Celtic’s B team
Borland is of no relation to Aidan Borland, the 18-year-old midfielder who left Celtic for Aston Villa in 2023.
Rhys Dargie has been the top scorer of the B team this season with ten goals. He also agreed a contract extension late last year.
18-year-olds Finlay Hale and Samuel Isiguzo have been named on the bench in Europe, whilst 16-year-old Joseph Haney made the matchday squad against Auchinleck Talbot.
16-year-old Dara Jikieimi has made his debut for the B team, but is reportedly going to join Liverpool at the end of the season.
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