Celtic could be about to see one of their top academy talents walk out the door for nothing in 2025, with reports confirming the Hoops are yet to offer a new deal to a teenager being scouted by several European clubs.
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Celtic kept alive their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League knockout phases earlier this week with a 0-0 draw against Dinamo Zagreb at the Stadion Maksimir. The result means Brendan Rodgers’ side are now undefeated in four games in the competition, and leaves them 21st in the new-look group phase with two games to play.
Teams who finish in the top eight will automatically qualify for the last-16, while those in ninth to 24th enter a round of two-legged play-offs in February, with the winners filling up the remaining eight spots in the round of 16.
Speaking to Celtic TV after the draw against Zagreb, Rodgers described it as a “good point,” but was disappointed his side didn’t take all three.
“I think we missed an opportunity this evening, if I’m being honest, to win the game. We needed to do more in the attacking side of the game,” he explained, adding: “We’d have loved to have given the supporters the victory for making it all the way out here, but they’ve seen the team taking a step closer to that qualification.”
Celtic could lose Cummings
With Celtic also nine points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership, all appears to be grand for Rodgers and his team. One negative for the Bhoys, however, is that they could be about to lose one of their best young players in the form of Daniel Cummings.
According to Scottish journalist Anthony Joseph, Bologna, Club Brugge, and RB Salzburg have all sent officials to watch the striker in action in recent weeks ahead of a potential move. Joseph claims that a number of Premier League clubs are also monitoring the 18-year-old, whose contract at Celtic Park runs out at the end of the season and is yet to be offered a new deal.
Cummings has scored 23 goals in just 22 games for Celtic B this season, including 17 in 15 in the Lowland League – a figure that makes him the division’s second-top scorer. Earlier this year, The Young Team, who scout Scotland’s next top stars, described Cummings as “too good for the Lowland League,” and praised him for his “great runs” and “spectacular strikes”.
Though his future at Celtic Park is up in the air, Rodgers recently suggested that Cummings could soon be given a chance in the club’s first-team.
“In terms of Daniel’s output, his goals in his games, he’s done very well,” Rodgers said. “But there are a lot of factors I consider when bringing in a young player.
“Ability is the first thing I look at, but your attitude and application are just as important. Young players will always get a chance here and there’s always a number of factors why they can or can’t get a chance, but the first one is normally ability. If they’re good enough, they’ll get a chance.”