Celtic sent Lee Congerton to watch Srdjan Plasvic in action for Serbia at the under-21 Euros with the winger eyed as a potential Patrick Roberts replacement.
Celtic had planned for life without Patrick Roberts this season. Re-signing the winger on another loan deal from Manchester City was Brendan Rodgers’ priority in the summer transfer window.
But with the Premier League giants seemingly unwilling to let Roberts return to Parkhead after an excellent 18-month spell, Celtic appeared to have drawn up a list of alternatives.
And Srdjan Plavsic was right at the top. The Mail report that head of recruitment Lee Congerton had watched the Serbian winger in action during the European Under-21 Championship’s in Poland this summer.
After scoring eight times and claiming five assists for Red Star Belgrade in 2016/17, Plavsic looked like a player on the up – the sort of under-the-radar talent that Celtic had made a habit of signing in recent years.
Celtic would have been disappointed when the ‘Atomic Ant’ joined Czech giants Sparta Prague instead – though not for long with Man City admitting defeat and allowing Roberts to make his long-awaited return to Glasgow just three weeks later.
And Plavsic’s poor start to life in the Czech Republic only serves to ease Celtic’s frustration. So far, the winger has played seven games for Sparta but is yet to really make his mark.
Only one of his five league appearances have been from the start – and he played a combined total of just 50 minutes in his four most recent outings for Sparta before injury put the youngster on the sidelines.
If Plavsic can’t make the grade in the Czech top flight, perhaps Celtic have dodged a bullet.
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