They say you can tell a lot about someone by the company they keep – I hope that’s not a hard and fast rule otherwise I’ve got a group of friends who have been ruining my opportunities in life for many years.
But when it comes to targeting players, it’s always good to see respected clubs linked with those your club is also targeting, as even if it does mean a bit of serious competition for a player’s signature, it also means that someone at our football club is going about their job in a professional manner.
As such to see Celtic linked and current Aberdeen midfielder Connor Barron linked with Premier League side Brentford is in this regard a welcome and reassuring nod to the players qualities.
After all the West London club, a name former CEO Dom McKay namechecked as a club Celtic could learn in terms of modernisation and recruitment best practice, certainly do some thorough homework on their signing targets, with owner Matthew Benham a firm believer in an analytical driven scouting process over several months and long before the player is ever watched in person.
So far much of Celtic’s transfer links appear to emanate from all over the globe, a welcome change to targeting familiar markets every summer, but it’s also reassuring to note that Celtic haven’t discounted the Scottish market. After all talent does emerge in Scotland, and on occasions we’ve been known to miss out – and no I’ve no intention of mentioning John McGinn again! And if Connor Barron is ticking the analysis boxes at Brentford, he’s clearly a player of promise.
Since breaking into the Aberdeen team in February Connor Barron hasn’t looked back. He was a fans favourite in no time at all, gained a nomination for the PFA young player of the year and is a Scotland under-21 international who performed well for Scotland against Belgium.
Barron isn’t likely to be a player Aberdeen boss Jim Goodwin would like to see leave that’s for sure, and prior to the start of the year the likes of Calvin Ramsey and Jack Mackenzie were perhaps the Aberdeen graduates you’d have expected big clubs to be circling. Yet after a couple of loan spells with Brechin City and then Kelty Hearts, Barron, in a short space of time, has grabbed his first team chance with the Dons and may well now be catching the eye of Ange Postecoglou as well as Brentford.
If Celtic were looking to sign Calvin Ramsey now the chances are we would have missed the boat with top EPL sides sniffing around the full-back and the rumoured fees attached getting richer by the day.
As such if Celtic do want to get the best of Scottish talent it may well be we have to make moves for such players much earlier in their careers rather than be left behind, and with Aberdeen reported to be keen on Celtic’s left back Liam Scales there may well be leverage here for Celtic – and a deal could be done this summer with Connor Barron, perhaps allowing Scales to move in the other direction.
And whilst EPL clubs may be willing to wait and see how the player develops next season before making their move Celtic could be in a position to move far sooner. 15 games for Aberdeen and a further 28 on loan is not the greatest sample size on which to judge the emerging Aberdeen midfielder, but are Celtic in a position to wait and see and perhaps miss out as the player picked off later and for a bigger fee than we may have to pay now?
Connor Barron has two years left on his current contract, Aberdeen will no doubt prefer if he extended that deal and quickly. Once he does it may be harder to persuade Aberdeen to accept an offer from Celtic. As such, with Brentford no doubt likely to wish to see further appearances and progress before making their move, perhaps if Celtic is convinced by his qualities the time to make a move for Connor Barron may be this summer.
Niall J
It’s Father’s Day this Sunday so why not order a copy of David Potter’s new book, Willie Fernie – Putting on the Style and we’ll get it posted straight away. You can order from Celtic Star Books – using the link below – or alternatively you can pick up a copy from any of the official Celtic Stores…
Alec McNair – Celtic’s Icicle by David Potter and both Invincible and Harry Hood Twice as Good by Matt Corr are also available from Celtic Star Books. Both of Matt’s book currently come with a free t-shirt featuring Tom Rogic or Harry Hood as part of our Father’s Day promotion.
