Barry Hepburn has completed his move from Celtic to Bayern Munich.
The 16-year-old follows in the path of Liam Morrison who made the same move a year ago with Celtic picking up a token development fee.
Celtic famously used that ruling in 2016 to sign Moussa Dembele from Fulham with the striker sold two years later for £20m.
? Neuzugang für die #FCBU17: Barry #Hepburn wechselt an den #FCBayernCampus!
? Herzlich willkommen, Barry: https://t.co/JsLCrrirP1 #FCBayern pic.twitter.com/7goqwxWTtc
— FC Bayern Campus (@FCBjuniorteam) August 28, 2020
Players and clubs are well aware of the issue ensuring that scouting takes place at a much younger level, the worry for Celtic is that there is now an established route to the new champions of Europe which is likely to encourage other players.
Training at Academy level only resumed last week in Scotland with Celtic’s Development/Reserve squad returning on Tuesday to an uncertain future.
Last season there were a few cup fixtures through the Glasgow Cup, Challenge Cup and Reserve Cup but that regularly left players waiting two or three weeks between games.
The lower divisions in Scotland begin on October 17 which seems the most likely route for younger players to get regular fixtures.
