Connor Barron could be out of football until December.
The midfielder suffered medial ligament damage in a pre-season friendly and is reported to be a month away from resuming full training.
Celtic were credited with an interest in Barron following the June u-21 internationals but are already well covered in midfield with Aaron Mooy signed up last month.
Aberdeen gave Barron a new contract in January but as Jim Goodwin rebuilds the squad that he inherited he won’t be able to call on the talented young midfielder.
Speaking to the Daily Record the Aberdeen boss said:
Connor will be back on the grass running in four week’s time I would imagine. He is going to have some kind of mini pre-season from that point onwards. Connor will probably need a couple of weeks with the fitness guys. I would hope for a return to play from probably six weeks from now.
We are not going to rush it and it is one we have been quite cautious with. The circumstance of it, a bit of an innocuous one in terms of the Buckie Thistle game and the tackle. It is one that we don’t want to rush too early. So that’s probably not a bad gauge – after the World Cup.
Ange Postecoglou now has more than two options for every midfield position but James McCarthy and Yosuke Ideguchi have failed to make any real impact since joining last season.
There is likely to be some movement in the Celtic squad before the window closes on September 1 but it seems certain that Barron will spend the rest of the year with Aberdeen.
Not that he will be first team choiceif medical team are happy then celtic should carry on