Celtic agree £2.5m fee for Mikey Johnston altering many suitors

Celtic has today agreed a transfer fee of around £2.5m for Republic of Ireland international Mikey Johnston, who is a product of the Celtic Academy.

Anthony Joseph from Sky Sports reports that the clubs have agree on the fee and speculates that this agreement could smooth things over in Celtic’s pursuit of left-sided centre-back Austin Trusty.

Celtic, as reported earlier today, has placed a £5m bid for the United States international defender, who is a teammate of Celtic’s Cameron Carter-Vickers in their national side.

Mikey Johnston was given his debut by Brendan Rodgers and went on to impress under Neil Lennon. However injuries and a subsequent loss of confidence amid fan criticism, seems to have affected Johnston who struggled at Celtic last season after a season long loan in Portugal.

That period ended when the club agreed a loan move with West Brom and it’s fair to say that Johnston was a resounding success at the Hawthorns, scoring numerous goals and even winning a Championship Player of the Month accolade.

But back at Celtic and the luck just doesn’t seem to be there for Mikey, coming off the bench at Easter Road to play through the middle after an injury to Kyogo and before Adam Idah’s return to the club, and Miukey was immediately flattened by the Hibs keeper resulting in concussion and an eye socket injury.

He’s fully fit now and able to make the switch, although other Championship clubs are also in the running for the Celtic winger.

£2.5m is perhaps a little light in terms of the transfer fee but it will perhaps allow the player’s agent to strike better contract terms for the player, something that Celtic will be mindful of for a player who came through the Celtic Academy and is regarded as one of the top talents produced in many a year. It just hasn’t worked out for Mikey in the Hoops but he will undoubtedly go on to have a great career in England.