Exclusive: Celtic make last-gasp bid to keep exit-bound player as deal all but done

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Published on:

19 Jun 2019, 1:30 pm

By Pete O'Rourke

Celtic have made a last-gasp bid to stop rising star Liam Morrison joining Bayern Munich, Football Insider understands.

The Scottish giants are keen to keep hold of the Scotland youth international after the European giants made a concerted move to sign him this summer.

Football Insider revealed on Monday that Bayern have set their sights on the defender, 16, and that he is on the verge of agreeing terms with them after being made a contract.

A Celtic source has told Football Insider the club do not want to lose Morrison, who they regard as an outstanding prospect and one of the best young players in Scotland.

They have told him they have big plans for him and there is a real pathway from the youth team to the senior side at Parkhead, one followed most impressively by Kieran Tierney in recent years, and Callum McGregor and James Forrest before him.

But Celtic fear that the teenager, who has been capped by Scotland at Under-17 level, has made his mind up to became the latest in an increasingly long line of British rising stars to head to the Bundesliga.

That would be a major blow to the club, who would only receive minimal compensation from Bayern Munich for Morrison's training and development costs, because of Fifa cross-border rules.

A more senior Scottish defender, David Bates, swapped Rangers for Germany when he signed for Hamburg on a free transfer last year.

But it would be even more remarkable for Morrison to move, given his age and that he is wanted by the biggest club in the country and one of the true elite ones in the world.

In other Celtic news, it can be REVEALED that one of the club's Scottish players has agreed terms with club giants as he's set for sensational transfer.

Celtic