Bristol Live has downplayed the prospect of Bosun Lawal going out on loan to Joey Barton’s Bristol Rovers.
It is questionable what sort of benefit the defender would get playing under a hot-head like the former Manchester City and Newcastle defender.
Celtic paid Watford a Development Fee to sign Lawal in the summer of 2021 with the Irish youth internationalist going straight into the B team playing in the Lowland League.
Despite a 10 minute first team appearance against Morton in last season’s Scottish Cup the truth is that two seasons of playing against sides like Caledonian Braves, Edinburgh University and Berwick Rangers hasn’t accelerated Lawal’s development.
No doubt the players agent will be looking at options for the season ahead with Bristol Live picking up on yesterday’s developments:
Football Insider report that the Gas and Pompey have targeted the 20-year-old, who can also operate in midfield, as he looks set to leave Parkhead for the 2023/24 to gain game time having made just one appearance last season for the Hoops, a three-minute cameo in the Scottish FA Cup.
Bristol Live understands that to be accurate and Lawal is a player under consideration but is also one of a number of options being considered in that position and Joey Barton’s priority remains securing a permanent addition in that area of the field.
Football Insider is a highly speculative website, throwing around dozens of stories every day including classics like Al Ettifaq swooping to offer Scott Wright a bumper Saudi deal.
Even without the injured Cameron Carter-Vickers, Lawal was left on the bench during the 6-4 defeat from Yokohama F Marinos with Brendan Rodgers starting the match with Carl Starfelt and Yuki Kobayashi then finishing up with Stephen Welsh and Liam Scales in the centre of defence.
Since that match there has been strong speculation linking Celtic with Legia Warsaw defender Maik Nawrocki which would have a knock on effect on Lawal and others.
Going out on loan to either Bristol Rovers or Portsmouth looks more likely to be with a view to a permanent move at that level than a launch pad for a career at Celtic. With Scott Brown taking Adam Montgomery on loan to Fleetwood it is likely that Lawal was also considered for a move to that club but it wasn’t advanced.
With Lawal no longer eligible to play in the Lowland League there will be a new look to the Celtic B side that opens their campaign tomorrow away to Cumbernauld Colts.
Rocco Vata, Ben Summers, Daniel Kelly and Ben McPherson are with the first team in Japan although Bruno Davidson, Michael Frame, MacKenzie Carse and Josh Dede have returned to the B team squad after being at the Algarve training camp.
Without that core, a lot of younger players were used in the pre-season matches against Fraserburgh, Sligo Rovers and Alloa Athletic which produced one draw and two defeats.
As well as the Lowland League virtually the same squad will be involved in the UEFA Youth League which mirrors the Champions League fixtures of the first team.
