Celtic transfer blow as summer 'target' faces nine months out injured after brutal update
Celtic have been monitoring the progress of the Birmingham City loanee.
Celtic and Sheffield United transfer target Marc Leonard will be out for a period of seven to nine months after rupturing his Achilles tendon during Hearts’ 1-1 draw with Motherwell.
The midfielder has impressed at Tynecastle since signing on loan in January from Birmingham City, where he will now return. On the stroke of half time during Saturday’s Fir Park stalemate, Leonard was helped off the pitch and was later seen among the substitutes with crutches. Both Celtic and Sheffield United have reportedly expressed an interest in the 24-year old before the season-ending injury.
Jambos boss Derek McInnes confirmed the timeline of Leonard’s knock, as well as defender Craig Halkett, who suffered the same fate in Lanarkshire and will be also be out for up to nine months. Both players will now miss both of Hearts’ remaining fixtures, including their potential season-deciding trip to Celtic Park on the final day.
McInnes confirms ‘significant’ injury blow for Hoops target
Speaking ahead of Hearts’ midweek trip to Falkirk, McInnes confirmed the timeline for both Leonard and Halkett. He said: “Both Mark and Craig got operated on in London yesterday morning. Both Achilles ruptures and significant injuries, both about 7-9 months probably. We managed to set up a scan and an appointment with the expert down in London. Both lads flew down Sunday afternoon for their operation yesterday morning.
“Both are travelling back up. Mark will travel to Birmingham today and Craig will come back to Glasgow with a physio. So, terrible news. That's the kind of hangover a wee bit after the game as well. Two very important players for us, two really popular lads having to deal with a significant injury. We've had to deal with that through a lot of the season and any of the lads who have come in as replacements have never let us down.
“We feel that's going to be the case this time around as well. We've got players who will come in and do the job for us. I've got an unshakable belief that we can do this and I believe the squad feel that as well. It's an extra wee bit of motivation for us if we needed any more, that two boys, two players who have played a big part have suffered really. It's unusual. Achilles injuries, I've never known anything like it two in one game.”
Injured duo used as for motivation for Hearts title charge
Part of the reason Leonard was brought in was to replace the injured Cammy Devlin, who’s missed the majority of the second half of the season. However, the Australian is now likely to slot back into the midfield for their remaining two fixtures. With Hearts a point ahead of Celtic in the standings with two games to go, they haven’t been better placed to win a title in decades, when asked if the injuries to Leonard and Halkett will spur the rest of the players on, McInnes responded: “You don’t need any extra motivation but it is certainly something we’ve spoken about.
“I feel as though we take confidence. We have been trying to hold off a couple of heavyweights for a long time now. We've managed to see off Rangers at the minute, and we've got to try and see off Celtic over the next two games. Our first port of call is to try and see off Falkirk and that's important for us just to focus on that one.”
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