What Mikey Johnston told Hearts as they tried to tempt him from Celtic

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Mikey Johnston has been tearing up the English Championship ever since his move from Celtic to West Bromwich Albion this season.

Winning the Championship Player of the Month, Johnston’s seven goals in 15 appearances since his January move have made the on-loan Celtic winger one of the most talked about players down south this season.

In fact, so good has his form been, that a £10m transfer theory has been floated as the Republic of Ireland international winger enjoys a successful time in the Midlands.

‘Fantastic’ Mikey Johnston didn’t want to leave Celtic

But it could have been so different for Johnston had Hearts gotten their way. Lee McCulloch has shared that when he was the assistant boss of the Tynecastle side, they tried to sign the winger.

McCulloch said [PLZ Soccer], “We tried to get Mikey Johnston at Hearts and Mikey Johnston didn’t want to leave Celtic.

“But then if he did leave Celtic he didn’t want to go to another team in Scotland.

“Fantastic player.”

Johnston has now had two good loan spells away from Celtic. At Vitoria Guimaraes, he made 31 appearances scoring three goals as he helped the Portuguese side qualify for Europe and earn international recognition with the Republic of Ireland.

Returning to Celtic, Johnston made 12 appearances this season under Brendan Rodgers scoring two and creating two.

However, injury curtailed his Celtic revival and he was eventually moved on to West Brom where he is enjoying a rich vein of form.

Mikey Johnston’s Celtic future

This has been a topic of conversation on the Celtic fans’ lips for years now. Since making his debut back in 2017, Johnston has failed to nail down a starting spot in the Hoops’ first team.

With just 92 appearances, 13 goals and 12 assists since then, Johnston has found life at Celtic tough with injury effectively wiping out two full seasons for the winger in 2019 and 2020. [Transfermarkt]

The arrival of Ange Postecoglou saw Liel Abada, Jota and Daizen Maeda come to Celtic and Johnston drop further down the pecking order.

A mini-revival under Rodgers was cut short again by injury and some poor form convinced the Celtic manager to get him out on loan.

Does he have a long-term future at Celtic? You would have to say no. Rodgers seems to think he can return from this loan spell and make an impact at Celtic.

The Celtic fans, however, remain to be convinced.