New contract being lined up for Celtic transfer target

Jim Goodwin is hoping to get Connor Barron onto a new contract with Celtic and two Italian clubs showing interest in the midfielder. 

Barron signed a new contract in January but after just 13 first team appearances Aberdeen know that they need to upgrade that deal to fend off interest from elsewhere. 

Last weekend Calvin Ramsey joined Liverpool after less than 30 top team appearances, that fee stabilises the finances of the club but also opens the eyes of players as to what is available outside of Pittodrie. 

Reacting to speculation over Barron, Goodwin told the Daily Record: 

We’ve got a number of good young players in our squad whose contracts we want to extend. Connor Barron is one of them. He had a terrific second half of the season, one of the nominees for player of the year. He’s the type of player you want to be building teams around because of his age. 

Based on what he did in the second half of the campaign there is always going to be speculation. Connor is a terrific young talent, he’s still got a hell of a lot of development to do. I spoke to him last week and I think Aberdeen, at the moment, is the best place for him to further his development. 

We’d love to get Connor on a better contract, he deserves to be rewarded, he deserves a better financial contract. At the same time we need to protect our assets as well. We want Connor to stay. 

He’s got two years left (on his current deal) so there is no pressure on anybody at the moment but we just want Connor to know how important we think he is and how much we want him around. 

It is difficult to see where Barron would fit in at Celtic but a deal that sees him loaned back to Aberdeen for a season might suit all parties. 

Last week Liam Scales joined Aberdeen on a season long loan from Celtic which followed on from Adam Montgomery spending the second half of last season at Pittodrie.