Former Celtic striker and 67 Hail Hail contributor Scott McDonald has given his reaction to a prominent resurfaced rumour; the Bhoys’ interest in Martin Boyle.
Boyle, who’s scored 14 goals for the Hibees this season, is reportedly being eyed by Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou [The Times]. An unnamed club in Abu Dhabi are reportedly also interested in the former Montrose and Dundee winger.
Boyle has been linked to Celtic on and off for quite a while now. But with Ange Postecoglou aggressively pursuing targets in the January transfer window, a move seems more feasible now.
Scott McDonald, though, isn’t entirely convinced. Skippy told 67 Hail Hail: “Martin’s done really well for Australia. He’s been so impressive.
“It’s going to be interesting isn’t it? Because I would’ve said at the start of the season, if Martin Boyle had have come up, I’d have been all over it for Celtic. He’s been brilliant for Hibs up to this point, and again he’s been brilliant [this season].
“But where do you fit him in? Is it just a signing for the sake of a signing, or is it one where he’s going to improve the squad already, or he’s actually going to play? It depends what Martin wants to do.
“I’m imagining there is interest from the Middle East, because he has that Australian passport. And the finances you can get from these countries, it’s a lot of money. So that could be a head-turner for the boy.”
Reasonable concerns about Martin Boyle and his fit at Celtic
As I’ve already said today, it makes sense to me for Celtic to sign Martin Boyle. Even at a reported £3m, he’s a proven match-winner and has proven as much repeatedly for Hibernian.
That’s from a Celtic perspective though. In terms of what the player himself wants, he’ll need to cognisant that he won’t be first choice, like he would be at a potential club in the Middle East, or like he would be staying at Hibernian. That’s an issue.
So, Scott McDonald is right to have concerns here; there’s no doubt Boyle is a good player, but would he welcome being a squad player as opposed to a starter? It seems unlikely he’d get in ahead of Liel Abada or James Forrest on a regular basis.
For Celtic, it’d be a case of the rich getting richer, a club adding real quality to the squad.
But for Martin Boyle, it’d be extremely interesting to see what the plan would be for him. No question it would make us stronger, but for the player himself, there’ll be a lot to think about if a Celtic bid materialises.
Read more: The 5 biggest Celtic January sales of recent seasons; where they are now
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