Cameron Carter-Vickers has been tipped to shock his new Celtic teammates at Lennoxtown.
The Hoops signed Carter-Vickers on a season-long loan from Tottenham Hotspur on deadline day.
At 23, the USA international is nowhere near the finished article just yet but one area he excels in is strength.
Even when he was 18, Jan Vertonghen said he was an ‘absolute beast‘ and it’s safe to say he has only got stronger since then.
Aberdeen-born Paul Coutts played with the centre-back at Sheffield United – one of seven loans away from Tottenham for the lad – and the 33-year-old has claimed that his old teammate is just’ unbelievably strong’ to the point where it’ll surprise Ange Postecoglou’s troops.
He told The Record: “The first impression I had of him was that he was strong as an ox. Take my word for it, the boys at Celtic will be taken by surprise just how strong he is. In terms of style of play he’s an unbelievably strong boy.
“The one thing that he’ll bring to the defence is a massive physicality and he’ll definitely go and dominate strikers physically.”
Exciting
That last bit will certainly excite Celtic fans, it has to be said.
The Hoops need a no-nonsense figure at the heart of their defence.
Carter-Vickers isn’t the tallest, certainly nowhere near Kristoffer Ajer – who left the club this past summer – or the injured Christopher Jullien.
But he could and certainly will dominate the physical contest against most opposition strikers, as Coutts pointed out.
Having said that, defensively he is still rough around the edges and if strength was the be all and end all, he’d still be at Spurs and competing in the Premier League.
But he has the makings of a very good signing and hopefully for Celtic, all will work out.
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