Liam Scales would provide much-needed depth for Celtic in two different areas

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The prospect of snapping up young Shamrock Rovers defender Liam Scales has been met with general acceptance by the Celtic supporters.

The latest on the story is that Celtic have reportedly won the race to sign the Irishman. The 23-year-old is said to be set to join the Hoops in the coming days after the Bhoys beat the likes of Southampton to his signature [Irish Mirror].

Many will question the lack of experience Scales brings to Parkhead. At 23, he’s played all of his first-team football in the League of Ireland. Only 49 of those appearances came with Shamrock Rovers and a further 103 with University College Dublin [Transfermarkt].

However, that doesn’t mean he isn’t ready to spread his wings and experience a higher level. The Shamrock Rovers supporters were left buzzing with his performance in Europa against Teuta Durres in midweek. In addition to that, he’s shown over the last 12 months that he’s outgrown what Irish football can offer him.

And let’s not pretend he would be coming into a Celtic side bursting with quality at the back.

Liam Scales could be a useful tool for Celtic if he proves himself

Scales has been operating as a left-wing-back for Shamrock Rovers this season. However, he also has extensive experience as a centre-back both with his current club and back with University College Dublin.

That gives Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou a big decision to make. Does he use Scales’ centre-back experience to finally provide us with a natural left-sided partner for Stephen Welsh/Carl Starfelt? Or does he come straight in and compete with Greg Taylor? Perhaps Postecoglou sees him as competing for both positions at the same time.

Any notion that Scales won’t be going straight into the first-team can also likely be put to bed. At 23, he’s too old to be featuring for the B side in the Lowland League. The Irish Mirror also report that the Celtic boss wants him to come in and compete immediately.

So Scales has a colossal step-up on his hands whenever he completes the move. He’ll be arriving into a football club in desperate need of defensive reinforcements. A club that needs him to be able to handle the jump up in quality.

But it’s clear the Celtic supporters are ready to give him a chance whenever this deal manages to get over the line. Here’s a look at how the support reacted to the news:

In other news, James McFadden lauds Celtic right-back Anthony Ralston for Parkhead breakthrough