Kelvin Wilson has revealed his belief that Celtic have now found the heir apparent to Virgil Van Dijk in USA international Cameron Carter-Vickers. Wilson knows a thing or two about playing centre-back for Celtic, having been part of the side that secured Celtic Football Club’s greatest result in modern history against Barcelona back in 2012.

Our new £6 million man signed on the dotted line on Friday, beckoning in a new-era at the club. With the deal possibly hitting £10 million with add-ons, Carter-Vickers represents quite a sea change in the thinking within Celtic Park. Wilson himself believes the signing is a major coup and a vital necessity for the Hoops moving forward.

As reported by Record Sport, he said: “Cam was arguably Celtic’s best defender last season. He was never going to have a problem getting a move this summer, whether it was to Celtic or elsewhere. But if you leave Celtic, you have to make sure it’s to a club that’s just as big, if not bigger – and that’s hard.

“I watched some games he played in last season, like the ones against Rangers and the League Cup Final. He was unbelievably good. He has such a presence because of the physical side to his game – but he can play as well. He’d have been a massive miss for Celtic if he hadn’t signed and he’d have been hard to replace.

Cameron Carter-Vickers IMAGO / Shutterstock. Photo by Luke Nickerson/

“Since Van Dijk left, they’ve struggled a bit to get in quality centre-backs. But they’ve found one in Carter-Vickers and it’s great that they’ve managed to keep him at the club.”

Wilson also asserted the belief that unless Cameron had managed to blag a place at one of the Top Six in England’s Premier League, Celtic was not only the best option for him, but the only one as far as he is concerned. He said: “There aren’t many clubs he could have gone to who could give him what Celtic will. That’s one million per cent true.

“Unless it had been a top-half Premier League club, he’d have been crazy to go anywhere other than Celtic, especially to the Championship in England. I did that and it wasn’t a regret because I came back to my club, Forest. On the flip side, looking at my career, I knew I wasn’t going to play for a bigger club than Celtic in the Championship.

“It’s even the case in the Premier League. Look at Gary Hooper, he left Celtic to go to Norwich and it wasn’t successful. Gary would be first to tell you that unless it’s a top Premier League club, you won’t get bigger than Celtic. Obviously financially it might have been better for him. But the money Celtic are paying isn’t rubbish – it’s still very good. Celtic are going straight into the Champions League next season so it was a no-brainer for him to stay there.”

The big Englishman also praised Cameron directly for being resolute and steadfast in his desire to join Celtic, although there may have been external pressure join other club’s down in England. He added: “The player can influence a situation like that, to a certain degree. I had a stage in my career when I was almost being forced to sign for Leeds from Preston.

“I wanted to go to Forest instead. I held out, stood my ground and ended up getting my move. Some clubs might try to force the issue. They can try to push the player elsewhere for the financial gain of the club. But it was in Cameron’s heart that he really wanted to go to Celtic. He’s stayed strong and stuck to what he believes will be best for his career.] He clearly thought it was right for him to go to Celtic and he’s held out for what he wanted.”

Paul Gillespie

TWICE AS GOOD

As it’s Father’s Day this Sunday we have a special offer with this high quality, limited edition Harry Hood Twice as Good t-shirt coming free of charge with your book order. These t-shirts are a limited edition and will not be sold separately, the only way to get one is when you order Twice as Good from Celtic Star Books.

Please tell us your t-shirt size in the Notes section when ordering…link below. All orders placed today will be posted on Tuesday morning and will reach you on Thursday, well ahead of Father’s Day next Sunday.