Celtic are reportedly interested in signing Utrecht’s Adrian Blake this summer.
If that name is familiar, it’s because Blake scored in Utrecht’s defeat at Celtic Park in January, impressing with his overall performance.
The 20-year-old moved to the Dutch side from Watford three years ago, and reportedly has several options to return to the Championship.
But the aforementioned Europa League performance has clearly remained in the memory, with Martin O’Neill’s men in the mix.
Should the Hoops make a late move for Adrian Blake in this transfer window?
He was the standout against Celtic
Celtic, Wolves and Burnley interested £2.5m Adrian Blake
According to Amar Mehta of Sky Sports News, newly-relegated Burnley and Wolves are with Celtic in the race for Blake.
Utrecht reportedly value him at £2.5 million, with one year remaining on his contract.
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The 20-year-old is a right-footed, nimble winger who plays off both sides. He has appeared for England at U18 and 19 level.
His stunning second-half strike in the defeat at Celtic Park marked a huge shift in the atmosphere, with the Hoops’ winning margin reduced to one after they had led 3-2.
Despite the impressive showing, he is a bit-part player for the Dutch side, spending much of the remainder of the season behind ex-Aberdeen man Jesper Karlsson in the pecking order.
In his three seasons in the Netherlands, Blake has just played 25 matches’ worth of senior minutes, making the vast majority of his appearances from the bench.
It’s worth noting that he’s still only 20, but this clearly indicates that Blake is not the finished product.
His rate of goals and assists is impressive, given the relative lack of minutes – he has nine goals and five assists to his name.
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Martin O’Neill admitted that Adrian Blake scored a ‘good goal’ vs Celtic
Speaking after the game that night, O’Neill said: “I don’t think that you can constantly press in the manner in which we do.
“You can’t keep that going for 90 minutes. But the important thing is that when you don’t press, then there’s moments where you just have to sit back and make sure that you’re covered.
“We allowed them in their second goal. They’ve knocked it over the top and scored, from their viewpoint, a good goal. So that put us on the back foot for a while, and it would have been a bit of a concern.
“But again, Trusty comes up with a magnificent header and we win. And it’s just nice to get through. But getting back to your point, of course, winning breeds confidence.”
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