Former Celtic defender Glenn Loovens has claimed that the club have completed excellent business by signing Liam Shaw on a pre-contract from Sheffield Wednesday. The Dutch defender believes that the small development fee will prove to be a bargain as Shaw has a big career ahead of him. Speaking to the Sun, Loovens said that the 19-year-old will continue to improve, especially at Celtic.
“I think Celtic have probably got a bargain with this guy.
“Liam was quite young when I was at Sheffield Wednesday, so he wasn’t involved when I was in the first team.
“But I’ve seen him at least twice this year playing at centre-half and I thought he looked really good.
“From then on I started following him a little bit.
“He is a guy with potential and he’s still very young, so he still has room to grow.
“He can play multiple positions, which isn’t always a good thing, but time will tell what his best position will be.
“I think he’s made a lot of progress this year.
“I’m not sure what went on behind the scenes at the club, but when a young talent is walking out the door for only a small fee, they must be disappointed.
“They probably invested a lot of time and energy in this kid progressing.”
With 15 appearances this season, Shaw can play central midfield as well as centre back and will arrive for a fee believed to be in the region of £300k for his development. Sheffield Wednesday were desperate to sign him on a new deal but the attraction to Celtic was clearly too much for the youngster.
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In recent seasons, Celtic have signed players like Jeremie Frimpong, Lee O’Connor, Jonathan Afolabi and Luca Connell using the cross border rule. Enticing players to a club of Celtic’s stature is one thing but bringing them through the ranks is another. Jeremie Frimpong is the only player that has really made a mark on the first team since arriving from one of the Premier League academies; although it is an emerging market.