Mystery surrounds Celtic player amid social media speculation as man Ange called 'top class' axed from website

James McCarthy’s position at Celtic has been left in a state of flux after he was removed from the club website.

The midfielder joined the club in 2021 during Ange Postecoglou’s early days in charge, but failed to make the desired impact, and didn’t kick a ball in anger last campaign. He has last been spotted with the Celtic ‘B’ team and there were rumours of rejected loan bids in the January transfer window.

Rumours have been rife on social media that McCarthy’s deal has been terminated. Nothing has been confirmed on that front but the Celtic website no longer lists the former Everton, Wigan and Hamilton midfielder in that section of the first team page, with his contract not due to expire until 2025.

Other fringe stars with little to no hope of playing like Liam Shaw, Yuki Kobayashi and Kwon are all still listed, but it’s McCarthy’s name that has been removed from the squad. His last first-team sighting was off the bench in a 2-1 win over St Johnstone on October 8th 2022.

McCarthy was announced on the same day as Joe Hart, the goalkeeper who went on to make a sustained impact as Hoops number before retiring at the end of last season. Speaking at the time of their unveilings, Postecoglou said: “I’m delighted that we have signed two top-class players in Joe and James.

“Both of them have a wealth of experience at both club and international level, and that is something which can only benefit the squad, and I’m looking forward to working with both of them.

“I know our supporters will be well aware of both players, and I’m sure they’ll welcome them to the club and look forward to seeing both of them play for Celtic in the seasons ahead.”