Darren Fletcher picks up possession 30 yards out, plays a neat one-two with Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez before bending a gorgeous first-time strike into the top corner of the net.
It was a truly wonderful goal, one that any of the 21st century’s greatest playmakers would have been proud to call their own.
It deserved better than to be meaningless consolation in arguably Man United’s most humiliating result of the Premier League era, a 6-1 thrashing at home to a rampant City side that would come to represent the passing of the baton from one iconic Manchester side to another. A forgotten plot point in a much larger story.
Callum Styles could have been forgiven for feeling similarly frustrated as the final whistle rang around the John Smith’s Stadium on Friday night.
Perhaps the finest strike of his young career, rattled into the top corner with his weaker left foot, counted for nothing in the end as Barnsley limped out of the Championship, dragging their sorry corpse back to the depths of League One.
Could Celtic nab Callum Styles?
Less than 12 months later, Barnsley – and their effervescent, Bury-born Hungary international – are facing up to life in England’s third tier. You can forget about Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City. Next season, it’ll be Lincoln, Cheltenham and Morecambe.
Styles’ marvellous yet ultimately-meaningless consolation in West Yorkshire, however, will not have gone unnoticed. The versatile 22-year-old has his fair share of admirers outside of Oakwell, The Sun reporting in December (19th, page 69) that Celtic see him as a future Parkhead left-back.
Styles’ tactical flexibility, relentless work ethic and seemingly boundless energy reserves mean he is tailor-made for ‘Ange-ball’. Furthermore, his ability to drift effortlessly into a more central role fits Postecoglou’s preferred ‘inverted full-back’ system to a tee.
“He’s a massive talent,” team-mate Cauley Woodrow told the Yorkshire Live of Barnsley’s 2021 Young Player of the Year.
“He’s got a massive future ahead of him. The sky’s the limit.”
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The Sun claimed, at the time, that West Brom are also in pursuit of Styles. But it’s surely no coincidence that links with the Baggies have dried up since the departure of Ismael, Styles’ former Barnsley boss, and the subsequent appointment of Steve Bruce as the Frenchman’s successor.
Ismael’s sacking left the door ajar for Celtic to make their move. Barnsley’s relegation, after a season of struggle, opens it just that little bit wider.
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