Scottish champions Celtic have enjoyed yet another incredible season. Brendan Rodgers’ men have written themselves into the history books with their incredible campaign and magnificent achievements after another trophy-laden season.
They are the first club in Scottish football history to win a Double Treble, and fans are already expecting the Bhoys to go on and do it a third time. With one eye on achieving the dream 10-in-a-row, fans and professionals alike will have high expectations for the club going into next season.
One player who will be especially eager to be a major part of that is talented youngster Michael Johnston. The 19-year-old has produced excellent, top quality performances for Celtic’s development sides over the past season.
Johnston is both quick and skilful and even though he is usually deployed on the left flank, he is capable of playing as an attacking midfielder. Last season he scored three goals and provided two assists in the UEFA Youth League.
In addition to this, he has slowly started to become involved in Brendan Rodgers’ side. Last season he featured three times in the Scottish Premiership, playing in games against Kilmarnock, Partick Thistle and Dundee. He also made an appearance in Celtic’s 5-0 win against Brechin City in the Scottish Cup and made the bench for the goalless draw against rivals Rangers.
The youngster will now be determined to gain further experience next season, and the expectation is that he will soon be able to step up and make an impact for the Hoops now that Patrick Roberts is set to leave the Parkhead club.
This might be the perfect opportunity for Johnston, with James Forrest being the only wide man there on the right he could use someone of similar calibre on the opposite side. Albeit he is young and hasn’t had the experience Forrest has, but with some guidance and help in training there’s no reason why he couldn’t go on to improve.
Since Johnston has proven himself to be adaptable, he could find himself playing wide on the right like Forrest. At the start of the 2017/18 season, Forrest had to up his game to ensure he wasn’t going to end up playing second fiddle to Roberts who became a favourite at Parkhead after his previous performances.
However, since Roberts went off on injury Forrest hasn’t had to fight for his position, so training Johnston to play wide on the right could give Forrest some healthy competition. It would mean Johnston would have to adapt to it, but if he plans on having a career at Celtic then he needs to be an adaptable, strong player who shows initiative, and there’s no reason why he couldn’t adjust his skills at this point with some help and guidance.
Not to mention that Rodgers like to turn young players into success stories.
When Stuart Armstrong first came on to the scene few people backed him to become a key player, but Rodgers seems to revel in the opportunity to harness young talent and turned him into one.
Looking at what the Celtic boss looks for in young talent, Johnston ticks a lot of the boxes and has a certain Forrest style about him.
Players like Armstrong and Callum McGregor owe much of their success to Rodgers’ belief in them. Had they not had a manager who believed in them like Rodgers did, then they might not have had the results they do now, and Johnston has the potential to fall into that category.
Rodgers clearly has faith in him, otherwise he wouldn’t be featured in any games in the Scottish Premiership at all, so it will be intriguing to see how the prospect develops.
Most likely he’ll receive further runouts as a substitute at the beginning of next season, at least that’s what will be expected, but if the opportunity arises to impress from the outset then it is certain that he will be determined to seize his chance.
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