Promising young Celtic goalkeeper Vincent Angelini has left the club for Watford, the Daily Mail reports [print edition, 06/07, page 79].
Angelini has been one of the Celtic academy products to have been consistently linked with a move away over the course of the 2020/21 season. He was firstly linked with a potential move to AC Milan [Sempre Milan], before being discussed for a potential Brighton switch [Daily Record].
And unfortunately, it looks as though the youngster has indeed left the club. With his contract having expired at the end of the last campaign, the Mail believes Watford have swooped to sign him.
It’s another frustrating blow for the Celtic academy, with too many youngsters leaving without making an impact on the first team. Angelini joins fellow stopper Liam Hughes, who left Parkhead to join Liverpool back in January.
Others such as Liam Morrison, Barry Hepburn, Euan Spark, Armstrong Okoflex, and Cameron Harper have also left in recent transfer windows.
Vincent Angelini swaps Celtic for Watford; exactly the kind of issue Postecoglou needs to stop
This is exactly the kind of development that Postecoglou needs to put an end to in the long run. We’re absolutely fed up of the club failing to keep hold of its top talents.
A trend is happening here. If you lose one or two promising youngsters then that can be put down to bad luck and the player looking for better opportunities elsewhere. But when you have a raft of them? That means there’s a big issue within the football club that needs sorting.
Former Celtic scout Mike Trusson stated earlier this week that the club didn’t have solid plans in place for the development of its younger players [Daily Record]. That they more or less didn’t know how to progress them. That’s a massive red flag and something the new man needs to sort out.
Thankfully, the new manager is aware of the issue. He spoke about it at his first fan media event when he stated that he would look to keep hold of all of our best young players. Postecoglou also touched on the importance of giving them an opportunity, something many of the names above will feel they didn’t have.
We now have a manager in that puts a solid focus on youth development and integration. He showed that with Brisbane Roar in particular when he replaced many of the senior players with young up and comers. We wouldn’t expect that to happen at Parkhead, but there’s clearly an added emphasis on youth with the new man.
Fingers crossed that in the long-term that helps us out. All the best to Angelini, but this needs sorted ASAP.
In other news, a Golden Boy candidate has been tipped to bag plenty of assists for Celtic amid recent speculation.
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