Mikey Johnston extends Celtic deal then heads to Portugal on loan

Mikey Johnston has joined Portuguese side Vitoria Guimaraes on a season-long loan and at the same time signed a contract extension at Celtic that will keep him at the club for an additional season at least.  That arrangement seems to support Ange Postecoglou’s comments last week that Mikey Johnston still has a future at Celtic but just needs first-team game-time to rediscover himself after a few years struggling with injuries.

20th November 2021; Hampden Park, Glasgow City, Scotland; Scottish League Cup semi-final

In order to get more first-team game-time, the Scottish Under-21 international player has agreed to join Vitoria Guimaraes in Portugal on a season-long loan deal.  The Portuguese side won the race in signing Johnston as other clubs including Scottish Premiership sides such as Aberdeen and Hearts reportedly had inquired about the talented Celtic winger.

Johnston was also linked with a move to be reunited with his former Celtic manager, Ronny Delia, at the Belgium club Standard Liege. However, this option wasn’t the one selected by the Celtic squad player who Ange Postecoglou reckons is a huge talent and instead, he’ll be playing his football in Portugal as he looks to regain the form he was showing before a really unlucky period in his career with injuries.

However, Johnston’s ambition to play first-team football for Celtic hasn’t faded as he agreed to a one-year extension of his contract with Celtic.

19th December 2021; Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland; Scottish League Cup final, Hibernian versus Celtic: Mikey Johnston of Celtic

With the welcomed game time, Johnston will be able to develop himself, and will hopefully provide the likes of Jota with some competition for starting positions. All in all, this temporary move for Johnston is beneficial for the player and beneficial for the club in the long run. And of course, Ange is right, there is a really talented player there and hopefully, we’ll see that when Mikey returns from his season in Portugal playing for the Celtic first team.

Best of luck, Mikey.

About Author

2 Comments

  1. There’s no doubting there’s a talented player there; he’s good on the ball, quick, enjoys taking on and beating defenders and has a decent shot on him that generally hits the target.

    His weak points tend to be selfishness on the ball, where he rarely looks for a teammate in a better position, instead usually opts to shoot if he creates half a chance to, no matter the circumstances, and as said, he’ll mostly get his shot on target, but usually without troubling keepers too much.

    If he can add composure and being a team player to his game rather than trying to be the star, he’ll do well.

  2. The really talented footballer that’s in there is of a no use to us. Another act of charity . In a few years he’ll be assistant manager or something.