Report: Celtic defender Adam Montgomery poised to join Kilmarnock on loan

By David Walton

January 23, 2022

Celtic youngster Adam Montgomery is poised to join Kilmarnock this month as the Hoops look to loan him out for the rest of the season, the Scottish Sun reports.

It was first reported by the Daily Record earlier this month that Celtic wanted to find some first-team action for the left-back. It comes with Montgomery having only started 2 league games for the club since October [Transfermarkt].

The Sun reports that Kilmarnock are still looking for new faces to join McInnes’ Ayrshire project. The Rugby Park side are pushing for promotion this term and have had an upturn in form under ex-Aberdeen manager McInnes.

It’s stated in the report that Killie are poised to win the race for Montgomery’s signature. That’s despite the fact several other Championship clubs are said to be interested.

Montgomery has seen the first-team opportunities dry up in recent times at Parkhead. The emergence of Liam Scales and the return from injury of Greg Taylor has only pushed the 19-year-old further down the pecking order.

Even so, Postecoglou has already stated several times this season that the full-back is progressing well [The National]. It’s clear that there’s strong potential in the Scottish youngster that needs to be unleashed with first-team exposure.

Adam Montgomery needs senior minutes wherever he can get them

It’s a great move from Celtic to try and get Montgomery more minutes in the second half of the campaign. As much promise as he has, he clearly just isn’t quite ready for consistent first-team exposure at Parkhead just yet.

A move to the Championship could be exactly what his game needs between now and the summer. The one key issue with Adam at the moment is that he hasn’t fully developed physically just yet. He’s still to add some bulk to his game and that clearly had an effect on his performances against more powerful full-backs.

But you can see all of the technical aspects are there. Adam is constantly looking to get on the overlap and has shown this season that he has an eye for a cross. He’s already made a valuable contribution this season with a key assist up at Pittodrie in a vital 2-1 win over Aberdeen back in October.

However, being a part of Kilmarnock’s promotion push would be a positive step for him. It would continue his development at a club where winning is essential this season. Whilst he’ll be a regular part of the Killie first-team under an experienced coach in McInnes.

Sure, it’s a drop-down to the Championship. However, we have to be realistic about the options currently available to us for Adam. Having him develop in Scotland remains the best option for his career. We can’t force Premiership clubs to come and take him either. Kilmarnock is certainly the next best alternative.

Hopefully, this is a deal that gets done over the coming days. The sooner Adam is out playing more regularly, the better for everyone.

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