It’s always a big deal when a club signs multiple players in one position. You have to prioritise who’s going to get game time.
This summer, Celtic signed three midfielders; Arne Engels, Paulo Bernardo, and Luke McCowan. The last one was a surprise. Although rumours had been building over the final week of the transfer window, the move for McCowan wasn’t something many people saw coming.
McCowan is off to a good start. I like what I’ve seen from him so far, and I think most of us have been impressed with his application, his dedication to the club, and his knack for getting into dangerous positions and getting shots on target.
That’s an ability you can never have too much of in a team. Ironically, though, it’s McCowan’s signing that may stand in the way of Celtic going out in January or the summer to bring in another young Scottish talent: Lennon Miller.
Miller is lighting it up right now and looks like an exceptional young prospect. Celtic has a long history of snapping up top young Scottish players. But McCowan, who’s 26, comes with experience, and with our midfield already so crowded, I don’t see how there’s room for Miller, even if the club is convinced that he’s the next big thing.
It’s the curse of having a big squad—you’re always going to have players you’d like to sign but no clear picture of where they’d fit in. Miller is too good to sit on the bench. If you’re going to develop a talent like that, you’d want him in the team regularly, and Celtic, with its abundance of midfielders, simply can’t guarantee that.
So, is it worth pursuing a deal for him anyway? And does he believe he could break into Celtic’s starting eleven? That’s what he’d need to ask himself.
There’s some serious talent in the midfield already. Callum McGregor isn’t going anywhere, Paulo Bernardo is scoring for Portugal’s U21s and looking like a real prospect, and Arne Engels, our record signing, isn’t about to be displaced by a new arrival.
That leaves Reo Hatate and McCowan. Both are firmly in the squad. Luke has a real chance to establish himself here, while Reo could potentially leave next summer, given the speculation. If that happens, and McCowan steps up, then there’s the possibility of bringing in Miller—but even then, he’d be fifth-choice.
The old adage is that you can never have too many good players.
But in reality, sometimes you can have too many.
All that happens then is they trip over each other, frustrated at not getting game time. I think right now Celtic has the balance about right, with everyone getting enough minutes to stay happy. But if you start adding more players to an already crowded area, it gets messy fast.
We already have a good young midfielder in Holm sitting in the reserves but can’t break into the first team, and a lot of people thought he’d be developed into a key player. Bringing in Miller would complicate things further if he hits the ground running.
Football is Darwinian. It’s a meritocracy, and that’s part of why it’s so compelling. If we sign Miller and he proves better than McCowan or even Hatate, and he starts scoring goals and cementing his place in the team, he’ll stay there. It’s as simple as that. The strongest and best go furthest in this sport. So, the real question is, does Miller have it in him to be that player?
I wonder if McCowan’s signing has closed that door.
It certainly makes it harder to go after Miller in January or even the summer. But as I said, if Hatate leaves, the situation becomes clearer. Normally, this would be a no-brainer—one of those deals you’d urge the club to make because you could be looking at the next Stuart Armstrong, someone who could come in and make a real impact.
It’s especially difficult because for years, this blog and others have pointed out the lack of young Scottish talent emerging. It would be typical for us to pass on Miller only to watch him become the best player of his generation.
It’s tricky, and it will be interesting to see how this develops. I suspect that if Miller continues on his current trajectory, the decision might be taken out of our hands when an English club swoops in and snaps him up. And we’ll be sitting here, watching him score his first Premier League goal, wondering what could have been. If he’s that good, it’s almost inevitable.
So, do we make a move now, while there’s still a bit of uncertainty, and take a gamble? Would the player be willing to risk a potential setback if he doesn’t get into the team?
It’s a big, multi-faceted decision, and I doubt it’ll be resolved in January, though it could be by the summer. That presents another risk for Celtic because if he’s on our radar, we don’t want to wait until Premier League clubs are circling and we’re priced out of the deal.
The idea of him joining the club across the city is another consideration. You’d think, given the state of their squad, that he’d have an easier path into their starting eleven. But could they afford him? If it came down to us versus them, we’d blow them out of the water financially, just as a Premier League club would do to us.
Miller definitely has something. That’s why this debate is happening. But whether it’s enough to justify the risk for Celtic remains to be seen.
This is one to keep an eye on in the short term, though.
One thing is clear: any bid for him will involve several million pounds, and that’s another consideration. Celtic can certainly afford it, in stark contrast to the club across the city, who can only dream of spending that kind of money on a young Scottish footballer. That might be our biggest advantage in this scenario.
Sign him and loan him straight back to Motherwell to get game time.
John, that is exactly what I was going to say. It stops the huns from getting him and allows us time to hive off any surplus to requirements players that we may make a handy profit on.
I think the fact Lennon Miller is more of a defensive midfielder and Luke is of the attacking variety, would mean that signing Miller would make sense as neither would threaten the other’s position in the team. In fact defensive midfield is not a position in which Celtic are blessed with an abundance of talent, so yes, go for it!
Financially we can blow sevco out of the water but when it comes to guaranteeing 1st team football we are (for all the right reasons) way behind them.
Perhaps we should do a Ryan Christie style deal, where we buy him and immediately loan him back to get more first team experience. If you look to the long term, we could buy him at Xmas but loan him out until the start of the 2026 – 27 season. By that time he will be a hardened SPFL pro with plenty of experience and a certain CalMac might be thinking about slowing down.
Buy and loan back for a couple of seasons. In 2026 Callum will be 34.
No matter how talented he is, the fact that he has LENNON in his name will be enough to put these lunatics Sevco Hun Hoards at Liebrox more irate and insane than they already are !
Sign in January and loan back till the summer, everyone wins.
If we can, sign him in the summer and loan him back to Motherwell for another season as at the end of the 25-26 season Hatate or Engels could be moving on.
He either is or isn’t. If he is an outstanding talent? We should go for him and he’ll get in the 1st team because he’s an outstanding talent. If he’s not then why go for him? Either he is or he isn’t, right?
If he is surely if it’s a question of us or the huns then it depends on the transfer fee does it not? The huns can’t afford a big big transfer fee but can compete on £3m ish, wages and the opportunities for game time.
I hear him getting mentioned most weekends in match reports so is he or not? The last Motherwell signing, David T, scored many outstanding goals and delivered outstanding performances but proved not to be the outstanding talent speculated on. So we’re in the world of speculation on the word talent and the meaning of the word outstanding.
If I remember right Faddy reckoned start at a £6m as a possible transfer fee. Right now that seems way too much if we don’t even know from his performances if he is or isn’t outstanding. Maybe he’s just a reasonably good prospect with focus on prospect
Given his age and locally trained status, Lennon Miller must be a “player of interest” to Celtic. Can he become a member of our core of (say) 5 midfielders who get regular game time? If we buy him then BR would obviously think so. Obviously not sighted on conversations with other midfielders but a Director of Football working with the manager would manage the succession plans.
I would buy in January and loan back to Motherwell till end of season and then see how he develops and likewise our existing younger midfielders.
Good point Jimmy R, Henry and Morto –
1) – It sickens The Sevco Hun Hoards…
2) – It’s a potential replacement for Cal-Mac…
3) – Any loan deal and he cannot play against Celtic anyway…
4) – It keeps the Scottish Squad Quota correct for Europe…
5) – Win, Win, Win, Win – (If Brendan likes him that is) !
Good article James but maybe turn it around, can we afford not to take the next best thing, being passive is not where we need to be. Buy him in January, let him be closely assessed by the manager and staff who can set his development plan dependent on levels and opportunities A season on loan at Aberdeen could raise his levels plus another at a championship club down south adds maturity experience and growth. All of this depends on the young man himself, his family and his advisors, what is their level of self belief. If there is belief at Celtic in this young man’s potential then we have to opt in, not out.
Has miller not said he wants to leave scotland when the time comes?
In reality SIX players fighting it out for the three midfield positions is a must due to the inevitable injuries, suspensions, loss of form and the necessity to rotate players given the sheer number of games we will play in season (at least 50 and probably more like 55+).
Furthermore, having that number would allow us to do what Ange used to do which is basically swap out the 5 of the front 6 after 60odd mins every game ensuring ALL the midfield & forwards are fit, fresh and up to match speed at ALL times not just the “first eleven”.
Any young Scottish player worth his salt should jump at the chance to join our midfield knowing he’ll get game time and learn from someone like Brendan Rodgers. For me Miller is no-brainer for Celtic and Celtic is a no-brainer for him – the questions are does Rodgers agree and if he does does Miller have the mentality, character, personality and to the required extent ego, to make such a move knowing that what initially will be a step down in playing time will result in giant leaps thereafter.