Former Celtic defender Alan Stubbs has backed Ange Postecoglou’s Scottish Premiership challengers to make a January swoop for Hibernian star Martin Boyle, speaking to The Herald.
Given the rather complex nature of Postecoglou’s tactical approach, it makes sense for the Celtic boss to prioritise players he knows and trusts, those who can slot into his system without the need for a lengthy spell of adaptation.
Kyogo Furuhashi has taken Scottish football by storm since joining from Vissel Kobe for a bargain £4.6 million while Tom Rogic, who shone under the current Parkhead boss for the Australia international team, has been revitalised this season, Celtic’s ‘Magic Man’ pulling rabbits out of hats on a weekly basis.
According to The Times, another Socceroo star could be heading to Glasgow before the month is out with Postecoglou keeping tabs on 28-year-old Boyle, an Edinburgh-born winger who now represents his father’s nation at international level.
Will Celtic raid Hibernian for Martin Boyle?
“I wouldn’t want to see Hibs lose him, but if he is going to go then I think Celtic would be a good fit for him,” says Stubbs, who coached the £3 million-rated Boyle at Easter Road.
“If you consider the way that Ange wants to play, he wants to play on the front foot and Martin does that really well in terms of closing the opposition down high up the pitch.
“Then, obviously, from a counter-attacking point of view he fits into that because he’s so quick.
“I think he could handle the expectation at Celtic.”
Boyle has scored 14 goals in 27 Hibs games this season – including a laser-like hat-trick in the Premier Sports Cup semi-final victory over Rangers – and is just two strikes away from making 2021/22 the most prolific campaign of his career.
Stubbs is thrilled to see his former charge add a ruthless streak to his game.
“Sometimes, he would try to do everything too quick, and then he would either overrun the ball at the last minute or he was still carrying his pace into his crosses, and his success from that wasn’t what it should have been,” adds the one-time Everton captain.
“What Martin has done very well, not just in terms of his assists but his goals too, is add that composure to his game. Even in front of goal, he looks a lot more composed and assured, and the same in wide areas.
“When you look now at someone that is playing at the top of his game, you can see why Celtic are interested in him.”
Celtic have already snapped up J-League trio Daizen Maeda, Reo Hatate and Yosuke Ideguchi this month with Sligo Rovers starlet Johnny Kenny expected to arrive too.
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