Long-term Celtic target Stephen O’Donnell’s future looks like it could be pointing to a move down south.
A report from the Daily Mail over the weekend (October 6th, Page 127) stated that the Kilmarnock man is interesting the Championship side. This also comes after summer interest that had Celtic linked with a move for him (Scottish Sun).
But the truth is, it feels as though you can go back a couple of years now and still spot links between O’Donnell and Parkhead.
He’s a decent enough player, but is he truly Celtic quality? So far, despite making just under 100 appearances for a solid Killie side, you would have to say no.
O’Donnell was highly unimpressive in many of his 10 Scotland appearances so far. Again, this isn’t a piece looking to slate the former Partick Thistle star. However, he’s yet to prove he can cope with a big step up in quality.
O’Donnell likes to get forward, but he doesn’t have the class on the ball that the likes of Hatem Abd Elhamed has. He also doesn’t have the pace of a Moritz Bauer either. If there is genuine interest in the Kilmarnock man, not many Celtic fans will be crying over the possibility of missing out on him.
Celtic interest is likely long gone
If there was any solid interest in O’Donnell, you can surely expect that to be gone now. We’ve already tooled up at right-back for the coming season. We have two fine players for the position, as well as young Jeremie Frimpong who will be desperate for more opportunities.
If Middlesbrough make a move for O’Donnell, Celtic shouldn’t bother even entering any negotiations. He would do a job in the English Championship. But performing to a high standard on a weekly basis at Celtic? That’s a step-up that looks too far for him at the moment.
If Celtic wanted O’Donnell by now then they would’ve signed him up. He’s out-of-contract at the end of the season (Transfermarkt), and it’s clear that there will be interest in him.
When he eventually leaves, it will at last put to bed this idea of Celtic being interested. The truth was that we needed better than just a solid Premiership right-back. We needed defenders who can step up on the European stage. Elhamed and Bauer have both proved themselves elsewhere in Europe before joining Celtic.
That’s not to say that O’Donnell won’t one day be a Celtic player. It could still happen in the future if he develops further over the next few years. But the right-back is now 27. He’s coming into his peak years in football.
The sooner he moves on, the sooner we can stop being linked with him in every transfer window.
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