Mikey Johnston is giving Celtic a decision to make in pre-season

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The Panathinaikos interest in Mikey Johnston most certainly seems to have calmed down over the last week.

Nearly two weeks ago, the Scottish Sun believed that the Greeks were weighing up a loan move for Johnston. The winger had just come off a breakthrough season at Parkhead where he had managed 23 appearances and five goals respectively.

Most notably, he ended the season in seriously positive fashion. He managed a brace on trophy day against Hearts at Celtic Park, before playing a part in securing the Treble Treble with a fine Scottish Cup win over the Jambos too.

But despite the initial reported interest from the Greeks, there hasn’t been anything further on any move. Whether it was just speculation or something more, things have gone quiet.

Meanwhile, it’s coincided with a blistering start to pre-season from the left-winger too. He’s perhaps been the most electric wide man out of them all so far. His directness and link-up play with the likes of Andrew Gutman and Ewan Henderson has been a delight to watch.

Normally, it takes wide players a while to get into their stride in pre-season. Johnston doesn’t appear to need that time, as he’s already bagged two goals and should’ve had a bunch of assists had his team-mates taken their chances.

Panathinaikos interest has waned

And all of a sudden, if Celtic were considering allowing Johnston to leave on loan, they may want to just hold off for now.

When the speculation arose, we were all for Johnston honing his craft in Greece. It could’ve been a real positive step for him in his development. A chance to perhaps help develop that final ball by playing week-in, week-out.

But after such a promising start to the pre-season camp with two good performances, he’s suddenly looking like he could make a real impact here. This is what pre-season is for. It gives the likes of Johnston the opportunity to show what he’s all about. A chance for him to show he’s more than a bench-warmer and perhaps doesn’t need loaning out.

Lennon may want to think about seeing Johnston in Champions League qualifying action. It’s fine performing when the pressure is off, but it’s most definitely on against Sarajevo next week.

He’s started pre-season better than the likes of Scott Sinclair, Lewis Morgan, and Jonny Hayes respectively. That doesn’t deserve to just be ignored, even if we were originally for his potential move to Greece.

With nothing more on that front as of yet, Lennon could feel he’ll give Johnston the chance to prove himself in meaningful games. One thing’s for sure, there is no sign of Johnston going anywhere temporarily just yet.