Money talks, it’s the same for youth as it is at senior level. That’s the brutal reality, but opportunities must be there for young players to break through at Celtic…
Another promising young talent in Aidan Borland has been lost to the club, after seemingly joining EPL side Aston Villa.
The 15 year old was linked with Villa back in March and sadly it looks like the promising midfielder has joined the Midlands club after he was listed as a Villa player in the recently announced Scotland under 17 squad.
Borland joins the likes of Liam Morrison and Ben Doak who left for Bayern Munich and Liverpool respectively. All talented youngsters who have been reared at the club, but now other clubs will reap the benefits.
The club has been compensated, but that’s just a mere consolation. We want to produce our own talent and let them flourish in our first team and hopefully under Brendan Rodgers young stars in the Celtic Academy will get more opportunity than has been the case in recent years.
Aidan Borland looks some player. New #avfc academy player 👀 pic.twitter.com/C1B8S5P9H7
— 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗩𝗙𝗖 𝗙𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗳𝘂𝗹 (@theavfcfaithful) August 3, 2023
We have a history throughout the years of rearing our own quality talent. In the 1960s we had Jimmy Johnstone, the 1970s we had Kenny Dalglish, the 1980s Paul McStay and Charlie Nicholas. In recent years we’ve had Shaun Maloney, James Forrest, Kieran Tierney, and of course our current skipper, the fantastic Callum McGregor.
Celtic’s midfielder Callum McGregor (Photo by PAUL MILLER/AFP via Getty Images)
Today it’s getting nigh on impossible to keep our young talent long enough to give them a shot in the first team. That’s not the club or the players fault. Just like the more experienced pros, it comes down to one thing and one thing only, and that is money.
You can’t really blame a youngster or their parents to be tempted by the big names and the big salaries on offer. Football is a short career after all and these youngsters are just taking care of their futures.
That’s the brutal truth. We do the same up here with fellow Scottish clubs, it’s just the nature of it. We’ve just got to keep producing our own talent and hope they stay long enough to have a crack at the first team and there has to be a route to the first team at Celtic. If you are good enough, you are old enough used to be the mantra.
Let’s give youth more of a chance!
Just an Ordinary Bhoy
Confirmed by @ScotlandNT.
Aidan Borland leaves Celtic for Aston Villa. https://t.co/Re1nkFBtBa
— Everything Celtic (@aboutceltic) August 3, 2023
