Pundit believes Premier League star could join Celtic

The pundit believes that the Premier League defender could be set to join Celtic after falling out of favour at his current club.

Former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson spoke out with MOTLeeds. He’s confident that Leeds manager Marcelo Bielsa will be making changes to his squad in preparation for their upcoming Premier League season. Robinson doesn’t see a place for left back Barry Douglas in that revamped squad.

Bielsa didn’t make much use of Douglas at Leeds in their Championship promotion season. He only had 17 appearances with half a dozen starts and was often third-choice left-back behind Stuart Dallas and Ezgjan Alioski. That doesn’t feel like enough for Douglas to fight his way back into a regular slot. It’s all pretty straightforward in Robinson’s view:

"“If Barry Douglas isn’t going to be playing then it will be a decision for him and the club. If Leeds are willing to let him go then his decision will be a lot easier. Celtic could be a big draw for him.“As a player, if you see an attacking midfielder get used in your position instead of yourself, it’s not a good sign for the future.“The writing is on the wall.”"

Robinson’s thinking is also shared by ex Leeds striker Noel Whelan with Football Insider reporting his views that Bielsa will look to sell Douglas to help fund other players joining.

"“Douglas has not been consistent enough.”"

Douglas was reported in The Yorkshire Post on Thursday talking about the new season and his preparation to be ready if called upon by Bielsa. He’s clearly unhappy at not playing as often as he’d like. So you’d expect an offer of more regular football would appeal. He didn’t mention Celtic or a move, which is likely to be sensible in trying to stay onside with club and manager for now. We’ve seen the shock waves when that’s happened at Parkhead:

"“The manager makes the decisions at the end of the day. I need to live by that. It can be frustrating at times but it’s a team game and it’s not all about me.“Ultimately I want to play more like every player, so it’s going to be challenging ahead for everyone to be on their toes and be at their best.”"

Could he be another defensive signing for Celtic? The Hoops ideally need to move Bolingoli on, if they can find a club to take him either on loan or permanently at a decent price. The also need competition for Greg Taylor. Some would justifiably say it’s more than competition, it’s someone better in at left back that’s a priority.

Much may depend on what sort of deal Leeds are prepared to do. The player joined them from Wolves a couple of years back for around £3 million on a 3 year deal ending next summer. Do they see him as a cost who won’t play and they need to move on? Or as an asset to be sold to raise funds for other purchases.

We know Peter Lawwell loves and aims to strike a bargain, if Douglas can be available at a good price, Celtic may be his next stop. Along with Duffy that could be a very positive bolstering of defence with an attacking option.