Celtic have secured the signing of Daniel Kelly onto a pre-professional contract despite interest from the richest clubs in England.
The 14-year-old midfielder has been with the Celtic Academy for five years but last summer the club was disappointed to lose Liam Morrison to Bayern Munich in similar circumstances.
With regular participation at major European youth tournaments Celtic players are being scouted at a much younger age with Karamoko Dembele the classic example.
Last night on Twitter Daniel’s dad announced that his bhoy would remain a bhoy for another four years.
Absolutely delighted for Daniel signing a pre professional contract with Celtic keeping him at the club until 2024. ?? pic.twitter.com/emgewWxcOp
— Craig Kelly (@CraigPeachy076) June 5, 2020
Last month the Glasgow Times reported:
Celtic fear losing yet another of their talented teens – with Manchester United and Leicester City among those monitoring academy starlet Daniel Kelly.
The youngster, 15, has impressed a plethora of scouts from down south and further afield having starred for the Hoops’ under 15s, 16s and even 18s. Kelly also showcased his talents in the Sheffield Trophy where a young Celts outfit finished runners up in the prestigious tournament to MLS side Seattle Sounders.
Herald and Times Sport now understands Celtic are desperate to keep hold of the player and have offered him terms on his first pre-professional contract, but big-hitters Manchester United have had him watched.
Like all Academy players Kelly has been out of action since the start of March due to Lockdown.
Celtic have provided their young players with individual training programmes with regular Zoom conference calls to keep everyone connected.
With strict testing programmes in place only allowing the Premiership to start in August younger players could be denied any sort of team sports until the end of this year.
The wee man with Bertie a few years ago. We just arrived back to the stadium after Daniel played Aberdeen away. Top guy. pic.twitter.com/lqQrWr1VFd
— Craig Kelly (@CraigPeachy076) June 1, 2020
5 years ago today when KT played with the academy. Daniel and Andrew loving it. Some journey @kierantierney1 has had now. Daniel just joined Celtic at that point. 5 years on he’s doing great. Cracking picture. pic.twitter.com/1cLaE4nQU5
— Craig Kelly (@CraigPeachy076) May 21, 2020