Mikey Johnston had been one of the most highly rated players at Celtic while coming through the youth ranks and even made a bright start at the senior level. There was a lot of excitement around the youngster and many believed that he could even develop into a 20-goal-a-season winger for the Hoops. Unfortunately, those predictions have not come true till now.
Johnston has had to deal with an injury nightmare. A series of injuries have kept him out on the sidelines for a large portion of the last few seasons, stalled his development and prevented him from nailing down a spot in the Celtic starting XI.
At this point of time, Johnston seems to be lacking confidence on the pitch and is far down the pecking order, with very little chance of getting regular first-team football in the upcoming season.
Thus, a loan spell away from the club could benefit him a lot and recently he has been linked with Standard de Liege of Belgium, who are currently managed by Ronny Deila. But as reported by Sudinfo (via Daily Record):
"“Even though there is interest from the Rouches in Mikey Johnston, the player would like to stay in Scotland.”"
Johnston’s potential Celtic exit takes unexpected twist
Even though Johnston has looked like a shadow of himself in recent times, he is still very highly rated at Parkhead and there are hopes that he will be able to rediscover his form and fitness in the near future.
His current deal with Celtic is believed to run till the summer of 2025. So, the club should not be any hurry to part ways with Johnston, before giving him every chance to get his career back on track.
Other than Standard de Liege of Belgium, there is believed to be interest in the Celtic winger from clubs around Britain as well and the Hoops would not be expected to have a tough time finding a landing spot for him this summer, if Johnston does indeed end up leaving on loan.