Celtic managed to salvage a crucial 1-1 draw against Astana away from home in the first leg of the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League. When Brendan Rodgers replaced Ronny Deila at the Celtic hot seat, it was supposed to be Celtic’s first step towards the next direction. The Hoops are without Champions League football for a long time now and Rodgers has a big task in his hands to bring it back as well as retaining the club’s dominance in Scottish football.
Celtic have not been much active so far in the transfer market bringing only two players in the form of Kolo Toure and Moussa Dembele but it’s looking increasingly likely that they will seal a few more deals before the transfer market slams closed. According to The Scottish Sun, Celtic are highly interested in signing Hearts right-back Callum Paterson this summer.
After coming through the youth ranks at Tynecastle, Paterson made his big move to Heart of Midlothian in 2010 at the tender age of 16. Since then, he never had to turn back becoming one of the best players at the club. At the age of just 21, Paterson boasts 143 appearances for the Scottish giants till date and he deserves to be talked about a big move to Celtic now.
Paterson is primarily a right-back and loves to burst forward with pace. The Scottish international has netted 30 goals for Hearts till date while contributing 20 assists from 143 games- quite remarkable, isn’t it? The 21-year-old is capable of playing as a right winger and even as an emergency striker. The attacking right-back would fit in Rodgers’ 3-5-2 formation perfectly while Lustig can be converted to a regular centre-back which will elongate his career.
With Mikael Lustig 29 now and Saidy Janko yet to make his mark at Parkhead, Celtic would definitely benefit from a quality right-back. Just aged 21, Paterson could be a part of their plans for a long-term future. Celtic have acquired the best home-grown talents in recent years with the likes of Armstrong, Allan, Christie and many more.
Paterson has already been capped for the Scottish national team once and is a player who would represent the national team for plenty of years to come. All things added up, Celtic moving for the Hearts right-back makes perfect sense. With just one season remaining on his contract, the highly-rated full-back can be available on a bargain and Celtic loves to do economic deals.
