Celtic head coach Brendan Rodgers enjoyed a respectable return to the dugout at Parkhead with a haul of two trophies during the 2023/24 campaign.
The Northern Irish head coach had left Leicester City the previous season and took the opportunity to come back to Glasgow for a second stint in charge after Ange Postecoglou made the move to Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League.
After a difficult first half of the campaign, in which his side were knocked out of the League Cup and finished bottom of their Champions League group, Rodgers led his team to two pieces of silverware.
The Hoops lifted the Scottish Premiership title at Parkhead before securing the SFA Cup with a 1-0 win over Rangers at Hampden Park the following weekend.
They will now be looking ahead to next season and plotting ways to improve the squad to ensure that they win more trophies to add to the cabinet, after the summer transfer window officially opened for business earlier this month.
Whilst supporters may want to see household names, or at least names that they have heard of before, coming in to bolster the team, the Bhoys could add to the group by landing a talented young marksman.
Celtic's interest in English academy star
According to Secret Scout on X, Celtic are one of a number of clubs eyeing up a deal to sign teenage academy forward Ajay Matthews from English Championship side Middlesbrough.
The report claims that the Hoops are one of the teams that have held discussions with the player to secure his signature ahead of the 2024/25 campaign.
It states that the 18-year-old attacker is due to move on from Michael Carrick's side this summer but it remains to be seen whether it would be for a fee or on a free transfer.
Rangers, Newcastle United, Brentford, Southampton, and Brighton & Hove Albion are the other clubs said to be keen on a swoop for the 18-year-old starlet.
All of the aforementioned teams, alongside Celtic, have held talks over a deal for the teenage centre-forward and are all said to be hopeful that they can convince him to make a move from Boro.
However, it remains to be seen whether Matthews would be interested in a move to Scotland or if he would prefer to remain in England to join one of the Premier League outfits in the running.
If the Scottish giants can win the race for the Middlesbrough attacker then he could come in as a replacement for Hyeon-gyu Oh ahead of next season.
Why Celtic should cash in on Hyeon-gyu Oh
Earlier this month, Sky Sports reporter Anthony Joseph claimed that Belgian giants Genk had submitted an offer of £4m to sign the South Korea international.
The journalist claimed that the two clubs were in talks over the structure of a potential deal but there has not been an update in the subsequent two weeks since that news.
At the time, Joseph added that Oh is "keen" on the move as he would like to leave Parkhead to go and play regular first-team football, after a frustrating year in Scotland.
The 23-year-old forward found himself sitting on the sidelines as the third-choice striker for Rodgers during the second half of the campaign, behind Kyogo Furuhashi and Adam Idah, who was on loan from Norwich City.
Appearances
20
Starts
3
xG
6.35
Goals
5
xG differential
-1.35
Assists
0
As you can see in the table above, the South Korean dud only started three league games in the entire season and underperformed his xG tally by just over one goal.
This shows that he was unreliable in front of goal whilst also offering very little creativity, with zero assists and zero 'big chances' created for the side.
Celtic are reportedly keen to bring Idah back on a permanent deal, although they have to wait for Norwich boss Johannes Hoff Thorup to make a decision in pre-season, and that would leave Oh as the third choice option once again.
As Joseph claimed, the 23-year-old does not want to be watching on from the bench week-in-week-out again and if the Hoops can get £4m, or more, for a back-up option then that could be terrific business from a footballing and financial perspective.
Why Celtic should sign Ajay Matthews
The 18-year-old could come in to form part of the B team to continue his development whilst also being used as the third-choice striker for the first-team.
After Idah's arrival at the start of February, Oh only made two appearances in all competitions and this shows that there would not be a lot of pressure on the teenager's shoulders immediately.
He could ease his way into the senior set-up as a back-up striker who would only be called upon when Kyogo and the Ireland international, or whoever they sign instead of him, are unavailable.
Back in April, Fabrizio Romano reported on interest in Matthews from teams in Europe and stated that the young attacker had scored a staggering 16 goals in 17 starts at academy level for Middlesbrough in all competitions.
Appearances
12
7
19
Goals
4
5
9
Assists
2
3
5
As you can see in the table above, nine of those goals came at league level as he worked his way up from the U18s to the U21s during the 2023/24 campaign.
14 direct goal contributions in 19 league games is a fantastic return, as is 16 goals in 17 starts, and these statistics show why Carrick decided to hand him a senior debut in the Championship last season.
Matthews played 22 minutes in two games against Leeds United and Cardiff City. He did not score in either match but did complete 100% of his attempted passes.
It now remains to be seen whether or not the English starlet can carry his outstanding goalscoring record at academy level over to the first-team but it is a gamble that could be worth taking for Celtic.
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He would only come in as a third-choice striker to replace Oh, should the South Korean complete a move to Genk, and that would mean that it would not be a disaster if he failed to make the step up, as they would have two others ahead of him, which is why they should take the risk.
