Celtic 'contemplate' pre-contract agreement for Scotland U/21 ace currently starring in Premiership
The Hoops are weighing up a January move for the Kilmarnock midfielder who continues to earn rave reviews
Celtic are reportedly ‘contemplating’ a January bid for highly-regarded Kilmarnock midfielder David Watson while their managerial search continues.
The Scotland Under-21 captain is out of contract at the end of this season and is free to negotiate pre-contract terms with interested parties when the winter window opens.
According to The Herald, the coveted 20-year-old is one of several Scottish-based players the Hoops are keeping close tabs on as they look to maintain a minimum of eight homegrown players for their European squad.
A product of Killie’s youth academy, Watson was shortlisted for the PFA Scotland young player of the year award last season and has already made over 100 first-team appearances for the Ayrshire club.
Watson’s emergence has been one of the top-flight’s brightest stories over the past 18 months, establishing himself as a key player for the Rugby Park outfit and taking over the armband for the Under-21s to underline his leadership qualities at a young age.
Goals tally will determine how high Kilmarnock star rises
To date, the Prestwick-born starlet has notched three goals in the current campaign, including in the 2-1 defeat to Brendan Rodgers’ side in September. Ex-Killie boss Derek McInnes stated last September that Watson’s goals tally would determine how high he rises.
He said: “Davie’s going to have a good career. There’s no doubt about that. I’ve been around long enough to know when a boy is going to do well. How well he does, I think, will be determined by how many goals he gets in a season.
“If he can be that running number eight that can get double figures in a season, those boys are worth their weight in gold. He does a lot of the game really well. He can handle the ball, he can compete in the air, he makes contact and competes well physically. The thing that will separate him and what level he goes to will be being a goalscoring midfielder.”
Kilmarnock will have a difficult decision to make should they receive offers for Watson in January, with the player previously rating in the £1.2million bracket during the off-season.
That price has since dropped and club chiefs might see more value now in retaining one of their biggest assets in order to boost their hopes of avoiding relegation and more prize money.
Celtic eager to boost homegrown European quota
As regular competitors in Europe, Celtic must continue to pay close attention to their quota of homegrown players in order to name a 25-man squad for UEFA club competitions.
Current rules stipulate that eight players must be homegrown, while the remaining 17 can be foreign. Those eight must be a combination of club-trained and association-trained players.
Failure to meet UEFA’s quotas reduces the total number of players allowed – with the defending champions travelling to Denmark for Thursday’s Europa League clash with FC Midtjylland with a squad of just 24 players as a consequence.
Celtic press on with recruitment drive amid ongoing manager search
Crucially, Celtic’s recruitment work has not stopped despite having no permanent manager in place following Rodgers shock resignation last month.
Martin O’Neill and Shaun Maloney are currently in charge of first-team affairs on an interim basis and have helped steady the ship with a 4-0 league victory over Falkirk backed up by a 3-1 extra-time win over Rangers to reach the Premier Sports Cup final.
A move for Watson would need to align with the incoming manager’s plans and whether the it’s believed he can contribute immediately and develop into a regular starter.