Oliver Burke joined Millwall today on a loan until the end of the season and given that he joined Celtic at this stage of the season, it is staggering how different the club’s transfer policy is in just four years.
Burke joined Celtic in January 2019 from West Brom in what was Brendan Rodgers’ final window as Celtic boss. Timo Weah joined him that window but neither were able to really set the heather alight with their performances and both exited the club at the end of the season.
Under Ange Postecoglou, Celtic have moved away from January loans of talented prospects and are instead conducting their scouting well in advance of the winter window opening. Jonjoe Kenny (Everton), Charly Musonda (Chelsea) and Paddy Roberts (Man City) are recent examples of the club bringing in players from English teams as they look to use Scotland to nurture their own talent.
The club, under Ange and Mark Lawwell, are working hard to identify talented youngsters in growing markets and bringing them to the club as part of their progress. As a result, there are bargains to be had – especially given the quality available.
Meanwhile, Burke’s move from Werder Bremen back to London emphasises that he has one of the best agents in football. The Scotland Internationalist has gone for a combined £33m in his relatively short career but is yet to settle down in any one place.
The ex-£15m man showed some flashes of what he could do playing some good football at Celtic but when Rodgers left, Neil Lennon didn’t seem to fancy the Scotland Internationalist. During his time in Glasgow, Burke scored four goals in nineteen appearances as Celtic completed the Treble Treble.
Millwall may fancy taking another punt on Burke and seeing if they can be the ones to bring out the talent that saw him move from Nottingham Forest to RB Leipzig at such a young age for £13m.
