If rumours are believed, Celtic are keen on signing James McCarthy this summer.
According to 90 Min, the Hoops want the Crystal Palace midfielder as a long-term replacement for Scott Brown.
The Celtic captain turned 35 as recently as June and although some fans might not want to admit it, Brown is absolutely in the twilight of his career, even if he doesn’t play like it most weeks.
By virtue of the fact that McCarthy set the Eagles back some £8.5 million last summer [Sky Sports], you could argue that the Republic of Ireland international – who was born in Glasgow – would be quite a coup for the Bhoys.
On his day, McCarthy is one hell of a midfielder. Just ask former Everton boss Ronald Koeman.
The Dutch manager spent a couple of years working with the 29-year-old on Merseyside and back in 2016, Koeman described his former player as ‘outstanding’.
He said, as quoted by The Sun: “I think we saw from James, his performance was outstanding. He did very well. It’s a long time since he was at that level of fitness.”
There’s no denying that the former Toffee has had his injury problems, having missed the whole of 2018 with a horrific double leg break, but he managed 33 Premier League appearances for Palace last term and seems to be enjoying his football again.
But Koeman is spot-on. McCarthy can be an exceptional player at times and if that’s true in the Premier League, it’s definitely true in the Scottish Premiership.
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