New Celtic recruit Lee O’Connor already looking to next season

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Recent Celtic recruit Lee O’Connor has already set his sights on making the step up to Neil Lennon’s first team – but there’s a catch.

The 19-year-old, who signed on a four-year deal from Manchester United last month, is yet to even make a first-team matchday squad. But the right-back isn’t getting too down about it as he looks ahead to the future.

“I’ve been enjoying it,” he told Pundit Arena. “I’m just settling in at the moment, I’m just looking forward to playing my football and showing them what I can do.

“At the moment, I’m just looking to get a run of games [at underage level] and show them why they’ve got me there. Hopefully, the coaching staff will see and next season in pre-season, I can show the first-team manager that I’m capable enough to make the step.

“They put great faith in me. I’m very grateful for that, so I’m just looking to repay their faith now, get a good run of games and have a good performance level.”

Celtic man O’Connor is rated highly by Ireland

O’Connor was part of the Ireland under-21 team that earned a credible draw with Italy in Tallaght on Thursday night. Stephen Kenny’s side sit top of their Euro qualifying group with three wins and a draw from their first four matches.

Much is expected of the next generation of Irish talent, but O’Connor is rated particularly highly. The defender has more underage caps than any of his teammates and has widely been tipped to make the step up to the full team when Kenny replaces Mick McCarthy next August.

Whether O’Connor will be a Celtic regular by that stage is a completely different question. The 19-year-old plays primarily as a right-back for his country but there’s a feeling that Celtic may look to deploy him in the centre of defence. We aren’t blessed for players in that position at the moment – something that has been highlighted by our recent injury situation.

Like fellow youngsters Jonathan Afolabi, Luca Connell and Jeremie Frimpong, there is clearly something special about O’Connor. Fans are itching to see what he can offer in the Hoops. Whether we get to find that out this season or next remains to be seen.