Celtic have been drawn against Aston Villa, Norwich City, and Valencia in the Premier League International Cup- although none of the clubs involved are in the Premier League!
Celtic have taken part in the competition for the last two seasons with this season’s competition open to players u-23 and expanded to include 24 clubs- half of them from outside England.
It was originally intended that the games were played home and away but UEFA put a block on that forcing each match to be played in England.
In season 2014/15 Celtic lost out to Manchester City in the last eight after topping their group ahead of Everton, Sunderland and Villarreal although last season was less successful with three defeats against Liverpool, Chelsea and Benfica.
The PLIC packs a busy schedule for the under-age Celtic pool with the players from the u-19 and u-20 age groups likely to be most in demand.
Next week Celtic host Annan Athletic at Cappielow in the Irn Bru Cup with a seven match path to the final if the young hoops get past the League Two club.
Celtic will also be taking part in the UEFA Youth League for u-19 sides either through the Champions League route where first team fixtures are mirrored or via the two round qualification route that they took last season before losing out to Valencia on penalties.
At the end of August the Development League begins with the SFA Youth Cup also up for grabs.
CLICK HERE for Celtic’s potential Champions League opponents.