Celtic lead the race to sign 'amazing talent' in the next Adam Idah

It's fair to say, Celtic Tuesday night's visit to Dens Park was more eventful than anyone expected.

When Celtic midfielder Luke McCowan headed home the winner against his former club five minutes later, most people thought the champions would cruise to a comfortable victory in the Discovery City.

However, Dundee responded not once, not twice, but three times. Cameron Carter Vickers He scored an unfortunate own goal just seconds after Yang Hyun-joon had put the Hoops in front, and so the visitors needed a 93rd-minute penalty from Arne Engels to salvage the tie.

Brendan Rodgers He was clearly angry Full-time, but the two-point drop had no tangible consequence, with Celtic now 16 points clear at the top of the league. Scottish Premier Leaguebefore Rangers' confrontation with Aberdeen on Wednesday evening.

When asked for an update on January transfers after the match Sky Sports Luke Shanley“Nothing yet, maybe I'll find out in the next couple of days,” Rodgers said, so could the Celts' first signing on the window be imminent?

Celtic are chasing a highly-rated teenager

As I mentioned for the first time before Mark McAdden of the Irish MirrorCELTIC are leading the race to sign St Patrick's Athletic striker Mason Melia.

This came after Melia visited Glasgow last week for talks, after accepting a similar invitation from her Tottenham Before Christmas, while Italian club Bologna were also mentioned as 'keen' to sign him, with further interest from Bundesliga clubs and Belgian clubs.

So who is Melia, and why is he so in demand?

Mason Melia scored at youth level

Still only 17 years old, he's made 54 matches For St Pat's in the League of Ireland, where he scored ten goals, helping the Red Army finish third last season.

Back in November 2023, he came on as a substitute as St Patrick's Athletic beat fierce Dublin rivals Bohemians 3-1 in the FA Cup final.

The match was played in front of 43,881 fans at the Aviva Stadium Record-breaking attendance For the Irish Cup final, with Melia becoming Youngest player ever To appear in the FA Cup Final, at the age of just 16 years and 50 days.

Journalist Conor McEvoy She described Melia as “an amazing talent.” Mark Gallagher from Extra Ireland Believing it to be worth €1 million (about £835,000), Which would crash The League of Ireland record is currently held by Liam Scales, who has joined CelticOr 600,000 euros from Shamrock Rovers in 2021

As he pointed out Football from the insideDue to Brexit regulations, Melia cannot join a British club until after his 18th birthday, meaning no move will be made until January 2026 at the earliest. But that does not mean Celtic, or anyone else in this The matter is, he cannot agree to a deal now.

How Mason Melia will fit in at Celtic

If the teenager opts to move to Parkhead, he will face stiff competition for a starting place from his fellow strikers Kyogo Furuhashi and Adam Edah.

Idah became an instant hero for Celtic by scoring a 90th-minute winner against Rangers in the Scottish Cup Final last season, but he has not lived up to those lofty expectations since his move from Norwich Always go big At a cost of 9.5 million pounds sterling.

He came under harsh criticism from Sky Sports pundits Chris Boyd, Neil Lennon and James McFadden After Tuesday's game, Boyd said “he doesn't look like he's the same player” as he was last season, adding “he needs to do more.”

So, maybe there will be room in the team for Milla to make a good impression?

Regardless of current form, Idah, along with the aforementioned Skills, are simply the latest in a long line of Irish Celtic players, 22 showed up big To be precise, some of them are among the club's biggest legends.

Few legends ever make this list, none more so than Pat Bonner, Only five players made More appearances than in the club's entire history, while Roy Keane and Robbie Keane sit at the other end of the scale as footballing greats, if not so much when wearing the green and white hoops.

So, if Melia moves on to the Scottish champions, he will be following in the footsteps of a lot of Irish legends… and Shane Duffy, but we're not mentioning him.