Bolton Wanderers are the latest club to make a move for the highly-rated Mark Sykes – a player who Celtic have watched too.
The Northern Irish league is hardly the most high profile of competitions in European football. But the more uber-talented youngsters emerge across the sea, then the likes of Glenavon will have to get used to frequent visits from talent scouts.
According to The Belfast Telegraph, Bolton Wanderers were the latest club to watch Mark Sykes in action for Glenavon this weekend, following Celtic, Leicester City and Blackburn Rovers in eyeing the young midfielder.
They won’t have been disappointed. Sykes, a 20-year-old Northern Ireland youth star, produced a sublime performance from the centre of the park against Ards, setting up the first and scoring the second in a 2-0 win courtesy of a stunning individual goal.
And Glenavon manager Gary Hamilton hardly hid his admiration at full-time.
“Mark was fantastic,” Hamilton told the Belfast Telegraph of Sykes, who took his tally to six goals in 15 games this season.
“We know a number of English clubs are looking at him and if he doesn’t go across the water in January, I’m sure he will in the summer.
“He is the best young player I have seen in the Irish League since I returned home.”
Such praise will not pass Celtic by. The Scottish champions have a history when it comes to unearthing unpolished gems from some of Europe’s smaller leagues and Sykes certainly fits the bill.
But with another club, Bolton, joining an ever lengthening queue for his services, Celtic may have to move very quickly indeed.
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