Celtic continued their strong start to life in the new-look Champions League format with a hard-fought 1-1 draw with Club Brugge at Parkhead on Wednesday.
The Hoops have only lost one of their five matches in the competition, drawing two and winning two, and are on course to secure a spot in the play-off round.
Brendan Rodgers’ side have made a brilliant start to the 2024/25 campaign in all competitions, as well as in Europe, as they are also in the final of the League Cup, which is due to be played at Hampden Park against Rangers next month.
Meanwhile, Celtic are three points clear of Aberdeen at the top of the Scottish Premiership table, and a whopping 11 points ahead of Rangers in third place.
The phenomenal season so far for the Glasgow giants does not, however, mean that it is likely to be a quiet month in the January transfer window, as there is already speculation building around Nicolas Kuhn’s future.
Premier League side Brentford are one team that is reportedly interested in the German winger ahead of January, whilst a starlet from the B team has also been linked with a move down south.
Premier League interest in Celtic's teen sensation
According to Football Insider, there are a number of teams from England showing an interest in Celtic’s B team centre-forward Daniel Cummings.
The report names Premier League sides Wolverhampton Wanderers, Fulham, and Ipswich Town and Championship teams Sunderland and Burnley as being keen on the attacker.
It states that all of those clubs had scouts in attendance to watch the Scotland youth international score in a 1-0 win for the academy against Club Brugge in the UEFA Youth League on Wednesday.
Football Insider adds that a host of English teams are keeping tabs on his situation at Parkhead because his current contract is due to expire at the end of the 2024/25 campaign.
This means that he would be available to any sides from England for a compensation fee of around €310k (£260k), and that would come as a big blow for Celtic as they would be losing a promising young talent for a very small fee.
The report does not reveal, however, whether or not Cummings is prepared to open talks with the club to put pen to paper on an extension with the Hoops, to avoid them losing him for a compensation fee next summer.
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Celtic must do everything in their power to avoid that situation as they could have another Ben Doak on their hands, as the young winger has thrived since moving on from Parkhead for a nominal fee.
How much Liverpool paid for Ben Doak
In the summer of 2022, Premier League giants Liverpool swooped in to sign the teenage forward and had to pay a reported compensation fee of just £600k.
Whilst that is more than double the fee that could come in for Cummings next year, it is nothing in comparison to his current market value – per Transfermarkt – of €10m (£8.3m).
Doak came up through the ranks in Glasgow and made two appearances in the 2021/22 Premiership campaign under Ange Postecoglou, with both of his outings coming as a substitute.
Unfortunately, that short exposure to first-team football in Scotland was not enough to convince the forward to remain at the club, and he pursued a move to Liverpool at the end of that season.
Doak has gone on to play ten times for the first-team at Anfield and has been capped six times by Scotland at senior level, whilst he has thrived on loan at Middlesbrough in the Championship this season.
Appearances
12
Starts
10
Goals
1
Assists
3
Key passes
25
Dribbles completed
24
As you can see in the table above, the 19-year-old has caught the eye with 49 key passes and dribbles completed combined in just ten starts in the second tier of football in England.
Celtic, unfortunately, were never able to see the best of his abilities at senior level because he only made two appearances off the bench under Postecoglou before his move down south for just £600k.
Rodgers must, now, finally unleash Cummings in the first-team and show him that there is a pathway for him, to avoid a Doak 2.0 situation at Parkhead.
Why Daniel Cummings should be unleashed
Doak never started a senior game for Celtic and did not appear in any of the cup competitions or in a European match before his move to the Premier League in 2022.
With more than half of the season left to go before Cummings could leave for a compensation fee, Rodgers has plenty of time to hand the B team star some opportunities to shine, whether that is in the SFA Cup, the Premiership, or the Champions League.
That could show the 18-year-old centre-forward that the manager values him and sees the potential that he has to be a future star for the Scottish giants, and convince him to put pen to paper on a new contract.
His form for the club’s academy this season suggests that the potential is there for him to make the step up, because he has proven himself to be far too good to be playing development football.
Cummings has scored a whopping 22 goals in 20 matches in all competitions in the 2024/25 campaign, including five goals in five UEFA Youth League outings. This comes after the Scottish marksman plundered 12 goals in 19 Lowland League appearances last season for Celtic’s academy.
Throughout his youth career to date, the teenage sensation has scored five goals in ten Youth League matches and 32 goals in 43 Lowland League games, which shows that he has been incredibly prolific domestically and in Europe.
When you consider that Kyogo Furuhashi has only scored five goals and missed a whopping 14 ‘big chances’ in 12 outings in the Premiership, Celtic could benefit from bringing through a prolific striker who can find the back of the net consistently.
Therefore, Rodgers must attempt to provide Cummings with first-team minutes in the weeks and months to come in an attempt to convince him to ignore interest from the Premier League and sign a new deal in Glasgow.
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1 ByDan Emery