A freelance journalist who is a specialist in America’s Major League Soccer (MLS) has disclosed an intriguing aspect about Celtic’s recruitment policy.
Tom Bogert, whilst appearing on the ExtraTime MLS discussion show, revealed that Celtic have a full-time scout for the top American league, and that MLS is becoming a place where major clubs look to sign players.
“One of the most interesting”
“I had a GM (general manager) tell me that a head of recruitment for a Champions League level club in the Premier League called this market one of the most interesting to follow right now…Celtic has a full-time scout here” Bogert said.
It is certainly intriguing that Celtic have earmarked the MLS has a league worth watching. Will the Hoops have full-time scouts at most major leagues? Possibly. However, it wasn’t that long ago that the standard of the MLS wouldn’t have been worth taking notice of.
However, that has changed in recent years, and Celtic presumably want to try and make inroads into the American market.
Hoops have signed college players
Celtic have signed some players from America relatively recently, Andrew Gutman and Manny Perez, but they were signed from college teams and not the MLS. However, Gutman has graduated to MLS side Cincinatti FC on loan.
It doesn’t really matter nowadays what countries players play in, as long as they do a good job for Celtic. If a player signs from the MLS and turns out to be a good purchase, all the better for the club.
Celtic like to keep their transfer activity close to their chest a lot of the time. When asked about transfers, Neil Lennon doesn’t say much until a deal is done.
Therefore, it is interesting to get a look behind the curtain into what transfer targets could be in Celtic’s future. Perhaps we will see Celtic sign an MLS player sooner than later, no doubt the scout has a list of targets ready to give to Nick Hammond.
In other news, Chris Sutton has identified three positions Celtic must make signings in.
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