Back in the late sixties as the Lisbon Lions dominated Scottish football there was one group of emerging young players that many thought could challenge them- Celtic’s Quality Street Gang.
Danny McGrain, Kenny Dalglish and Lou Macari were in the group of young upstarts learning on the training ground and preparing to take up the baton and push on in Europe and domestically.
Developing through young players in the modern era is much more complex with most clubs carrying squads of 20 plus players.
The demand at Celtic is to produce Champions League players- the highest possible benchmark but there is increasing evidence that players of that calibre are starting to emerge.
Kieran Tierney has reached that standard and more. He went into the side, kept out an established internationalist and has improved almost on a game by game basis.
Liam Henderson has hinted at those levels but failed to sustain a regular place, over the last few months Callum McGregor has shown that he can be as influential as anyone else in the team.
With those players setting the benchmark it’s possible within a couple of seasons half of the Celtic team could have come through the ranks- maybe one day we’ll get to watch a Celtic XI made up entirely of homegrown players.