Celtic have been getting criticised for not producing enough talent from their academy to make a difference to the first-team
The last and most recent success from the academy would have to be when Kieran Tierney rose from the ranks to become an integral part of Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic Invincibles over seven years ago now.
Now I’m not saying the academy produces nothing because it clearly does. Players like Karamoko Dembele and Ben Doak prove that the academy works but it’s not benefitting the club and that’s what needs to change.
However, as we discussed this morning, Dembele looks like he could be carving a career out for himself down in England whilst Doak continues to earn rave reviews at Liverpool.
And another academy graduate looks set to benefit another club after putting pen to paper on a deal with Greenock Morton.
Former Celtic starlet Owen Moffat joins Morton
Owen Moffat was tipped to have a bright future at Celtic after impressing during Ange Postecoglou’s first pre-season tour in 2021.
Winning the League Cup with Celtic against Hibs was the highlight of the youngster’s career after being brought on as a second-half substitute in the Hampden final but he failed to kick on and was allowed to join Blackpool in 2022.
Now at Greenock Morton, manager Dougie Imrie was clearly delighted to capture the signature of Moffat and praised the Celtic academy for their work in developing him.
Imrie said [Greenock Telegraph], “It’s good for us to have a player of Owen’s pedigree. He’s young and he’ll make mistakes but he’s come out of a good schooling at Celtic and I hope that he can come here and kick on.
“He’s a good player and one who’ll excite the fans here at Cappielow.
“His all-round game is very good, he’s not just a winger, he can play there but he can also play in the 10 and his ability on the ball is what most people will see moving forward.
“He can manipulate the ball, play eye-of-the-needle passes and he can chip in with goals and assists.
“It’s been about trying to find these more creative players at the top end of the pitch who can open up defences, Owen comes into that bracket.”
Indeed, this is not the first time the Celtic academy has been praised. When Moffat joined Blackpool their Academy Director Ciaran Donnelly said Moffat had an ‘excellent football education’ at Celtic and praised Darren O’Dea and Chris McCart for their part in making the move happen. [Blackpool FC]
We wish Moffat all the best in his career and we hope that we will see him one day back in the Scottish Premiership.