Celtic have had numerous top young players make their way through the academy over the years.
Just recently, Ben Doak left Celtic for Liverpool and whilst he is yet to make a proper impact at Anfield the young Scottish forward is enjoying life at Middlesebrough on loan.
Celtic have also seen the likes of Rocco Vata and Daniel Kelly departed for the English leagues to continue their development in the game.
However, the Parkhead club had a genuine wonderkid who was tipped to make it to the very top before he decided to leave Glasgow and head for the bright lights of London.
And what happened after that will probably go down as one of the most disappointing ends to a young Celtic Academy graduate’s career many fans will remember.
Ex-Celtic wonderkid Islam Feruz who disappeared at Chelsea
Islam Feruz was discovered by Celtic at the age of 10 and was immediately described as ‘special’ by former Hoops coach John Sludden. [Daily Record]
Feruz made his debut for Celtic in Tommy Burns’ memorial match in 2009 but was never seen in the green and white Hoops after making the move to Chelsea in 2011.
The youngster was coming through the ranks at Celtic at the same time as Liverpool hero Andy Robertson and here, the Scotland captain shares how the Parkhead club viewed the young Somalian sensation when he was at the club.
Robertson told Open Goal: “He was the golden boy, obviously. Celtic done everything for him and rightly so.
“He won every game for us really, scoring hat-tricks all the time. I think he’s still at Chelsea actually. He’s been down there a long time.
“I remember when he left and obviously Celtic were gutted to lose him but I think he couldn’t quite turn it down.
“It’s maybe not quite worked out the way he wanted it but I’m sure we’ll see him along the way.”
Islam Feruz’s post-Celtic career and where is he now?
Even Robertson must be shocked at how his former teammate’s career turned out because after leaving Celtic, Feruz didn’t make a single first-team appearance for Chelsea in 201, and since then, his career bounced from club to club.
In fact, the former wonderkid went on to make a combined 20 first-team appearances for seven different clubs before he hung up his boots in 2020 at the age of just 24.
- Chelsea: 0 appearances
- OFI Crete (loan): 1 appearance
- Blackpool (loan): 2 appearances
- Hibs (loan) 6 appearances
- Royal Exel Mouscron (loan): 7 appearances
- Swindon Town (loan): 4 appearances
- Radnički Niš: 0 appearances
- Dubai City: 0 appearances
Since he left Dubai City, The Scottish Sun reported in 2020 that Feruz had given up the game to start selling designer caps.
It is not known if Feruz is still involved in the business but it is fair to say that the former Celtic youngster must look back and wonder, ‘what if’.
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