Celtic player linked with surprise move to Belgian club

Celtic have a pretty strong squad at this point of time and look ready to defend their Premiership crown against the Rangers, while also returning to the Champions League after many years. The best thing that the Hoops did this summer is to keep the core of their double-winning team together, after surprisingly seeing Nir Bitton and Tom Rogic leave at the end of last season, by signing Jota, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Daizen Maeda permanently.

The general consensus is that the club could do with a physical defensive midfielder and another option at striker. Amidst all this, one area that is being overlooked is the wing.

The club have Jota, Maeda and Liel Abada in their ranks, but other than that, the options are not too deep on the flanks. James Forrest was handed a new contract recently but he has struggled with both form and fitness for the last couple of years now. On the other hand, Mikey Johnston’s promising career has never taken off as a result of a series of injury problems.

And as tweeted out by Celticunderground, rumours are that Johnston is off to Standard de Liege on loan.

Would the Celtic player leaving on loan be the right decision?

There are a couple of scenarios where Johnston leaving on loan would make sense for Celtic. The first that they bring in another winger this summer to fill his spot in the squad. The second is if they have someone in their youth ranks who they believe is ready for sporadic first-team football.

At the end of the day, Johnston is not expected to play too much football this season unless there is an injury crisis at the club or he picks up some unexpected form.

It is very possible that he could be helped by a loan spell away from Celtic. Coming through the youth ranks, he was one of the highest-rated players at Parkhead and after some sparkling displays early on in his career, many believed that he could be a 20-goal-a-season winger for the club.

It is safe to say things have not turned out quite as smoothly for Johnston but there is a player in there. And maybe he could rediscover his form and confidence away on loan, at a club where the pressure would be significantly lower than at Celtic.