After Celtic’s struggles in Europe over the past few seasons and their failure to even make it into the Champions League for three straight seasons, it is easy to forget the kind of pulling power that the Hoops have.
While teams from Scotland cannot compete financially with those from more lucrative leagues, Celtic’s name still goes a long way when attracting players to the club. Especially when it comes to players who are plying their trade in the lower leagues at the moment.
One such name who has been linked with the club recently is Joel Randall. The 21-year-old currently plays for League Two side Exeter City. Thus, it is not hard to see why he would be stunned with links to the Glasgow giants.
But his recent form means that he has drawn a lot of interest in the past several months. In 22 League Two appearances, he has scored 6 goals and provided 4 assists. In 3 FA Cup appearances, he has scored twice as well while setting up another.
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Randall has described Celtic links as a ‘dream’
Randall did not mix his words when asked about the links to one of Europe’s biggest clubs. As reported by BBC, he said:
"“Of course, seeing the Celtic shout was dream stuff really, to see that interest.“But I’ve got a job to do with Exeter so I can’t let it distract me.“We know the names of Watkins, Ampadu, Grimes, they’ve all shown what the academy can produce so they’ll put us in that sort of bracket as well.“In the future hopefully we can match their careers. They know it’s a good academy and we keep producing, so hopefully that can continue.”"
Exeter City have produced some brilliant players in recent times. Ollie Watkins is the most prominent of them, having signed for Aston Villa for an incredible £33 million deal from Brentford and has scored 10 goals in the Premier League this season already. Ethan Ampadu also represents the Wales national team and is currently under contract at Chelsea while spending the season on loan at Sheffield United. Matt Grimes is the captain of Swansea.
Clearly, Exeter City are capable of producing some world class talents. And Randall might be the next one in line. So, it would be a mistake for the Hoops to not go after him just because he is playing in League Two.