Celtic are monitoring young Newcastle United midfielder, Joe White with the possibility of snapping him up on a pre-contract agreement, as reported by The Chronicle. Celtic have use such deals in the past to get young talents from south of the border – Liam Shaw and Osaze Urroghide being perfect examples of such deals.

 Joe White of Newcastle United is challenged by Jack Diamond of Harrogate Town during the Papa John’s EFL Trophy Group match between Harrogate Town and Newcastle United U21’s at The EnviroVent Stadium on October 05, 2021 in Harrogate, England. (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)

There is a significant low-risk/high-reward strategy to these types of deals which no doubt enthused the Celtic hierarchy. However, with the lack of game time of both the aforementioned young players in the Celtic first team to date, one must wonder if there is any sense in stockpiling young players who waste away in the Celtic B team without any real development.

White, 19, stands at 6ft 1in and was handed his professional contract at 17 after impressing in the reserve and youth teams at Newcastle. The midfielder is courted by teams far and wide, with Leeds United interested in him last summer. The youngster was named as a substitute earlier in the season when Manchester United hammered the Toon 4-1. White has also been the star of the U-23’s this term for the Tyneside outfit and looks like he could be captured on a cross-border compensation deal.

Joe White (2L) celebrates with his teammates Cameron Ferguson (L), Ryan Barrett (3L) and Joshua Scott (R) of Newcastle United after scoring his team’s second goal during the Papa John’s EFL Trophy Group match between Mansfield Town and Newcastle United U21 at on November 09, 2021 in Mansfield, England. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)

No doubt Ange will have many irons in the fire as he looks to mould this Celtic team in his image. Additions who are more directed towards the future are welcome, but as of now we need players who can come in and bring something to the first team. We are clearly lacking in certain areas within the team and squad more generally, so any move for White should be filed under the ‘for future’ bracket I would imagine.

Paul Gillespie

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