Celtic forward 'closing in' on Deadline Day transfer to English Championship club

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers is set to allow fringe player Mikey Johnston to depart the club on transfer deadline day.

The 24-year-old has featured just nine times in the Scottish Premiership this season after returning from a loan spell with Portuguese top side Vitória S.C. and has struggled to make an impact under Rodgers upon his return to the club and now Johnston is understood to be eager to get regular first team football.

And that has now paved the way for the Republic Of Ireland international to make a move to English Championship promotion chasers West Bromwich Albion, as per reports. The player is believed to have already undergone a medical in the Midlands and will now agree a deal until the summer with Carlos Corberan's team.

The Baggies currently occupy fifth position in the English second tier and had been linked with a move for Hoops' Liel Abada earlier the the window. They have since brought in attacking duo Andi Weimann and Callum Marshall but it is thought Corberan was eager to bring in further attacking presence which had led him to make a move for the Republic Of Ireland man with winger Matt Phillips out injured and Jeremy Sarmiento recalled by Brighton earlier in January and re-loaned to Ipswich Town.

It looks like it will be the second Hoops departure to the English Championship on Deadline Day with David Turnbull expected to complete a permanent move to Cardiff City later today though, despite Johnston's imminent departure, the loan move to West Brom will not necessarily signal the end of his time in Glasgow with his two years left on his contract still. The move to join the Baggies is also understood not to have a loan-to-buy option with both clubs agreeing to a temporary move until the summer.