Celtic are leading the race to sign Dilan Markanday in the January transfer window.

What's the talk?

That's according to a claim made by Alan Hutton, with the former right-back suggesting in a recent interview with Football Insider that the 20-year-old Tottenham Hotspur forward, who has been linked with a move to both Celtic and Rangers this winter, would receive more game time at Parkhead than at Ibrox - something that would seem to give Ange Postecoglou's side the edge over their Old Firm rivals in the race for the youngster.

Speaking about the interest in Markanday, Hutton said: "The fact they're in Europe, it will boil down how much playing time is he going to get. If he's going to come up to Rangers, maybe sit on the bench and be a bit-part player, that's not ideal. If he's going to go to Celtic and play more minutes - it's all about the player's development.

"His plan is to come up, do well, play games to go back and be a Tottenham Hotspur player. It's whatever's going to suit him the best game-wise. That will be the team that he fits."

New Robbie Keane

Considering just how impressive Markanday has been for Spurs' U23 side so far this season, it would very much appear as if the 20-year-old would make a fantastic addition to Postecoglou's current options in attack.

Indeed, over his 13 Premier League 2 appearances this term, the versatile winger has scored a whopping 11 goals - including a brace against Manchester City U23s and a hat-trick against Leeds United's youth side - and registered five assists, as well as providing a further two assists over his three fixtures in the EFL Trophy.

Furthermore, Celtic boast a rather successful history in loaning forward's from the North London side, landing Robbie Keane on a three-month temporary spell back in 2010 - with the former Republic of Ireland international going on to bag a rather astonishing 16 goals and three assists over his 19 fixtures for the Hoops.

As such, while Markanday is by no means a forward as mature as Keane was upon his short-term switch to Parkhead 11 years ago, the 20-year-old dubbed a "bright" player by football.london reporter Alasdair Gold, nevertheless looks to possess the ability to be a roaring success for the Bhoys, much like the Irishman.

In other news: Celtic could be making a huge mistake on £720k-rated flop who Ange "sees something" in