Tottenham and Manchester City are keen on taking Celtic youngster Rory Mahady away from Lennoxtown, according to the Daily Record.
Spurs and City have been named along with Leeds as the clubs who want to take the highly-regarded young shot-stopper.
The Daily Record claims that Celtic are keen to keep what’s believed to be one of the best young goalkeepers in Britain. Leeds, meanwhile, are said to be long-time admirers of the youngster.
Mahady is set to turn 16 later this year. That will mean the youngster is free to sign his first professional contract with whoever he likes.
Earlier this year, it was reported that Man City had already scouted the youngster on several occasions [Football Scotland].
However, if he does depart the club to sign a first professional deal elsewhere, Celtic would be entitled to compensation for bringing him through the academy.
Celtic looking to keep Rory Mahady as EPL interest swirls
We’ve become accustomed to this in recent times. Losing the best young talent the academy has to offer has been one of the frustrating trends at Parkhead over the last couple of year.
Liam Morrison, Barry Hepburn, Josh Adam, Liam Hughes, Ben Doak. There’s a long line of talented youngsters who viewed their futures away from Celtic Park before they’d made any impact with the first team.
Karamoko Dembele could be about to do the same with his contract up this summer and still no sign of a new deal. If Mahady was to do the same, it would hardly come as any surprise.
Ange has already stated that this is one of the major trends at Celtic he wants to put a stop to. The most talented young stars leaving the club isn’t something that will sit well with him. However, that’s going to take some time to implement.
Ange did his bit this season. He gave debuts to as many as 6 B team talents in a bid to show that the pathway is there for those willing to work for it and commit to the club.
Time will tell whether Mahady will go down that path and look to develop under Ange. But given the EPL clubs swirling around for his signature, it’s starting to look like a tough battle from the outside.
In other news, Kieran Tierney “speaks regularly” with Celtic captain; lauds “legend” David Turnbull
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