There is going to be a changing of the guard at Celtic this summer. A fresh manager will arrive, alongside their new CEO in Dominic McKay and also potentially a director of football.
With those manoeuvres in place, it appears as though the Hoops are taking their recruitment in a different direction.
They are seemingly targeting young players on pre-contract deals from England. They missed out on Ben Pearson who they were trying to lure to Scotland, but they now have other targets in mind.
Wigan Athletic’s Kyle Joseph and Rochdale’s Kwadwo Baah have both been linked with a switch to Glasgow. Though, they’ve already had success in luring another English talent to Parkhead; Liam Shaw.
The 19-year-old has agreed to join the Bhoys on a free transfer in the summer from Sheffield Wednesday.
Capable of playing in defence or as a holding player, his arrival could mean a host of things for the club. First and foremost, it will prove the club is still a hotbed for the best young talent around; something Celtic have needed to prove for a while.
Secondly, it could finally bring down the curtain on Scott Brown’s stay at Paradise.
The Celtic captain is out of contract in the summer and has been touted with taking on a coaching role in Glasgow or at Aberdeen. It would be a timely way for his stay at Celtic to come to an end.
After all, this could be their first season without silverware in a considerable period of time. Brown’s performances have been dwindling and not even a goal and an assist against Killie can convince us he’s sufficiently turned a corner.
The 35-year-old has put in some laboured displays this term and nothing typifies that more than the red card he received after just five minutes on the field against Livingston. Moving to replace him as swiftly as they have done here, therefore, is nothing short of magic from Nick Hammond.
If Brown had any hope of continuing his playing days at Celtic, then signing Shaw has surely dealt a mighty blow to those aspirations. The Hoops haven't always got their recruitment spot on, but landing a player as talented as the Wednesday midfielder for absolutely nothing is risk-free.
Celtic need to drive themselves in a new direction after this torrid season. The perfect way to do that would be by waving farewell to their divisive captain and bringing in a young and hungry midfielder. Shaw is exactly that.