Celtic confirm the seven youngsters who have signed their first professional deal including former wonderkid’s brother

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The next generation of Celtic talents have been tied down to their first professional deals.

There has been an argument to say that Celtic haven’t developed enough youngsters in recent years, with names like Rocco Vata and Ben Doak all leaving in search of better opportunities elsewhere.

Kieran Tierney and Anthony Ralston are two of the more successful Lennoxtown graduates in recent times but Brendan Rodgers hasn’t stopped looking for younger talent away from the club as Cork City’s Cathal O’Sullivan has become a target for the Hoops.

Rodgers may want to look closer to home though and seven players have confirmed they will start their professional careers at Celtic Park.

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Karamoko Dembele’s brother signs first professional contract at Celtic

Celtic confirmed on Monday that seven youngsters had signed pro contracts with the club.

Hassan Dembele, Nathan Meechan, Joseph Haney, Rocco Di Giacomo, Emmanuel Obidiwe, Lucas Clearie and Kayden Daly have all put pen to paper and will become professional players.

The standout name on the list is Hassan Dembele, who is the younger brother of Karamoko Dembele.

During his Celtic academy days, Karamoko was regarded as one of the brightest talents in the squad, making his senior debut at the age of 16.

Sadly, he was given limited chances in the first team before leaving to join Brest and spent last season playing for Queens Park Rangers.

Celtic encourage youngsters to follow in Kieran Tierney’s footsteps

For the youngsters coming through, they know that they have two excellent first team inspirations to look up to in Tierney and Callum McGregor.

In their statement on the club website congratulating the seven new pros, they urged the next wave of talent to follow the steps taken by the first team stars.

They said: “For any young player at Celtic, they only need to look at the men’s first team for inspiration to see players like captain, Callum McGregor, James Forrest, Kieran Tierney, Anthony Ralston, Stephen Welsh and Ross Doohan, all of whom have come through the Academy and graduated into the first-team.

“Everyone at Celtic Football Club wishes the players all the very best and we look forward to seeing how their careers develop in the coming years with the Hoops.”