Aston Villa supporters hate the thought of losing Tyreik Wright to Celtic

By John McGinley

February 12, 2021

Celtic are one of the clubs interested in signing Aston Villa attacker Tyreik Wright, The Daily Mail has reported this week.

The paper say that both Everton and the Bhoys are keeping tabs on him right now.

Wright is currently on loan at English League Two side Walsall. He’s had an impressive start at the Saddlers, assisting two goals in his first two appearances.

Walsall boss Darrel Clarke is delighted to have him on board, telling reporters: “Tyreik’s got great ability. He’s been showing his match-winning qualities in the Under 23’s at Villa and for his country at youth level.

“We’ve got a great relationship with Villa and we’re very grateful to them for letting us have one of their exciting youngsters.

“He has that match-winning quality, energy, pace, and he created the goal at Port Vale [his debut] with one bit of magic.”

Intriguingly, the Mail says that Wright’s contract at Villa expires at the end of this season, meaning anyone can snap him up on a pre-contract basis.

Celtic interest in Tyreik Wright makes sense

Celtic have been heavily recruiting from the English academy and lower league system over the last few years.

We’ve also demonstrated a preference for Republic of Ireland youth internationals – already collecting Barry Coffey, Luca Connell, Armstrong Oko-Flex and Jonathan Afolabi at the club.

Ireland youngster Tyreik Wright is a Celtic target / (Photo By Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

Wright has won nine caps with the Ireland U19s, scoring five goals in the process. Clearly, he’s valued at that level and will have eyes on winning senior caps in the future.

On a free transfer, there’s really little risk in making a move for the 19-year-old.

However, Celtic would need to build a path towards first-team action for the youngster. That has sadly been lacking at the club for a couple of years now.

Why move to the Bhoys just to stagnate on the sidelines at Lennoxtown?

Aston Villa fans do appear to rate him though, taking to Twitter this week to voice their displeasure at a potential switch to Celtic…

In other news, Celtic are said to be shortlisting and contacting Director of Football candidates.