Armstrong Okoflex latest: Interest from Italy ramps up for Celtic youngster

By John McGinley

January 8, 2021

Multiple Italian clubs are interested in signing Celtic youngster Armstrong Okoflex, Tuttomercatoweb reports this week.

The outlet believes Torino and Bologna have been showing consistent interest since last year.

However, more interest from Serie A is now expected in the Republic of Ireland youth international.

Okoflex has been a hyped-up talent ever since he joined the club in 2018.

Highlights and goal snippets posted by the club have piqued fans’ interest over the last two years.

However, he’s failed to make into Neil Lennon’s first-team plans at Lennoxtown. His last appearance in a matchday squad came way back in May 2019.

With his contract now expiring at the end of this season, it seems likely his time in Glasgow is coming to an end.

No path to Celtic first-team

Celtic have had a batch of exciting attacking talent on the books over the last few years. Alongside Okoflex there’s been Karamoko Dembele, Jonathan Afolabi and Cameron Harper.

However, chances have been limited, and as they reach their late teens and early twenties, they are all at a critical stage of their developments.

Presumably, if young talents were excellent enough, they’d get game time, but it is a definite worry that there doesn’t appear to be a consistent pathway to the first-team squad for growing players.

Celtic youngster Armstrong Okoflex / (Photo by Paul Devlin/SNS Group via Getty Images)

Perhaps that will change with the pressure of ‘the 10’ off over the next couple of seasons.

If Celtic are going to reach their true potential, a functional youth strategy needs to be an essential part.

In other news, Gary Mackay-Steven is on the brink of a move to Hearts.