Celtic wonderkid Zion Pullan is reportedly being watched by Athletic Club.
This week, headlines were made when Pullan was called up by Spain for his outrageous form at academy level.
The winger, who turned 15 in February, has previously appeared for Scotland and is also eligible for Nigeria.
Now, he already has some reported interest — and the club involved is particularly interesting.
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Celtic starlet Zion Pullan ‘monitored’ by Athletic Club
As reported by La Cantera De Lezama via @AthleticXtra on X, Pullan is being ‘followed’ by the Bilbao giants.
Athletic are, of course, unique in their ‘Cantera’ policy of only signing players with connections to the Greater Basque region.
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Pullan’s birthplace of Tudela in Navarre makes him eligible for the club. He was born in the area to Nigerian parents and grew up in Scotland.
The teenager has played as a winger at U15 and U17 level for the Hoops this season, scoring a stunning 58 goals.
He operates as a right-footer on the left, gaining attention for scoring a hat-trick against Rangers for the U15s earlier this year.
Athletic’s interest is particularly interesting given their heavily-restricted scouting pool of players. They are laser-focused on players eligible for the club.
As one of just three clubs never to be relegated from La Liga, they have vast resources, and have paid inflated fees for Basque-linked players in the past.
If they push to sign Pullan, it will be tough for Celtic to hold onto him. Of course, we have seen this very movie before.
Were Celtic right to invest £20 million in Barrowfield with so many academy players leaving?
Celtic’s academy continues to lose talent
Dara Jikiemi’s move to Liverpool looks set to be the latest example of the Hoops’ academy bleeding talent to the Premier League’s benefit.
Ben Gannon-Doak stands as the biggest success story of young players leaving Parkhead for moves down south, by far.
But for every Gannon-Doak, there are plenty more examples of young Celts being discarded by England’s giants, even after excelling at under-21 level.
Despite this, the trend has continued in the last few years: Aidan Borland to Aston Villa, Daniel Cummings to West Ham, Rory Mahady to Leeds… the list goes on.
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