Celtic are watching St Johnstone’s Northern Ireland international Ali McCann after an impressive start to the Scottish Premiership season, according to the Courier.
It has not been a bad couple of days for the 20-year-old play-maker.
Edinburgh-born McCann made his Northern Ireland debut during the November international break, with a ‘fantastic’ performance against Austria earning plenty of praise from manager Ian Baraclough.
The Buddies’ midfield maestro has also made his mark at club level in recent weeks.
Celtic are always on the lookout for exciting, technically-gifted homegrown talent (see Stuart Armstrong and David Turnbull).
And the Courier claims that Hoops scout Tosh McKinlay traveled to McDiarmid Park to watch McCann in action during St Johnstone’s 1-1 draw with Motherwell on Saturday.
Yet, as you might expect from a man who plays the game with such elegance and class, McCann is completely unfazed by speculation linking him with the reigning champions.
“I don’t take notice of it. I just keep my head down and keep doing what I’m doing in the best way I can,” he told the Courier, before admitting that he does indeed have lofty ambitions.
“You’ve got to be ambitious. You want to do as well as possible and go as high as you can in your career.
“But you can’t get too far ahead of yourself. I just want to make sure I’m doing my best at St Johnstone.”
McCann idolises Northern Ireland legend Steven Davis and the Rangers play-maker is exactly the kind of calming, controlling influence Celtic have lacked in the middle of the park this term.
35-year-old captain Scott Brown is showing his age, while the overworked and visibly-fatigued Callum McGregor surely cannot be expected to play 90 minutes three times a week again this term; especially with a fixture schedule as packed as this one.
McGregor has made 71 appearances for club alone since the start of 2019/20.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
