Promising Celtic midfielder departs after 14 years with the club as agreement over two-year deal reached
Ayr United have confirmed the signing of a promising Celtic midfielder
Highly-rated Celtic youngster Ben Summers has agreed a deal to join Scottish Championship side Ayr United.
Summers, who once played the role of Tommy Burns in a film about the Celtic icon's life, has agreed to join the Honest Men on a six-month loan deal which will then become a permanent two-year deal when the season concludes in June.
The 21-year-old has been on the books at Parkhead for 14 years and has made 34 appearances in total for the B team, registering seven goals and three assists in the process.
He’s earned international recognition for Scotland at Under-21 level and has even appeared for the senior team on two occasions. He made a two-minute cameo during the 2022/23 season against Kilmarnock in a 4-1 away win and was also introduced from the bench after the split against Aberdeen in a 5-0 win which marked Ange Postecoglou’s final league game in the dugout.
Summers agrees to join Ayr United
Summers is leaving Parkhead to take on a new challenge in the Championship with Scott Brown’s promotion-chasing side.
He’s had a taste of senior football out on loan at Dunfermline Athletic and more recently at Admira Wacker in Austria’s second-tier but now has a new permanent home where he’ll hope to really showcase what he’s capable of offering.
After completing the move, Summer told the Ayrshire Post, via Daily Record: "I've been through their system since I was seven and apart from a couple of loan spells, it's all I've really known. Even when you have those loan spells, you still feel the association to Celtic, so this is a proper fresh start for me and a big step with the two years ahead of me.
"The fact that the club are showing that level of confidence in me is a big thing. It's an exciting new chapter in my career and the time is right for me to focus on leaving Celtic and showing what I can do."
Ayr are currently fourth in the Scottish Championship and are competing to reach the top-flight for the first time since 1978. They are managed by Hoops fan favourite Scott Brown, who led them to a third place finish last season.
The Honest Men are currently in fourth and on track for the play-offs, but would need a huge turnaround to achieve top spot after falling 16 points behind leaders St Johnstone.