Celtic lead the race to sign a “terrific talent” who’s the next Adam Idah

Fair to say, Celtic’s Tuesday night visit to Dens Park was a lot more eventful than anyone could’ve forecast.

When Celtic midfielder Luke McCowan headed home the opener against his former club inside five minutes, most assumed the champions would cruise to a comfortable victory in the City of Discovery.

However, Dundee hit back not once, not twice but three times, Cameron Carter-Vickers the scorer of an unfortunate own goal mere seconds after Yang Hyun-jun had nodded the Hoops in front, the visitors thereby requiring a 93rd minute Arne Engels spot-kick to salvage a draw.

Brendan Rodgers was clearly fuming at full time, but the two points dropped has little tangible consequence, with Celtic now 16 points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership, ahead of Rangers’ clash with Aberdeen on Wednesday night.

When asked for an update about January transfers post-game by Sky Sports’ Luke Shanley, Rodgers said “nothing as of yet, I’ll probably find out over the next couple of days”, so could the Celts’ first signing of the window be imminent?

Celtic chasing a highly-rated teenager

As first reported by Mark McCadden of the Irish Mirror, Celtic are “leading the race” to sign St Patrick’s Athletic striker Mason Melia.

This came after Melia visited Glasgow last week for talks, having accepted a similar invitation from Tottenham before Christmas, while Serie A side Bologna are also mentioned as “eager” to sign him, with further interest from Bundesliga and Belgian clubs.

So who is Melia, and why is he so sought after?

Mason Melia’s record at youth level

Still only 17-years-old, he’s made 54 appearances for League of Ireland side St Pat’s, scoring ten goals, helping the Red Army finish third last season.

Back in November 2023, he came off the bench as St Patrick’s Athletic beat fierce Dublin rivals Bohemians 3-1 in the FAI Cup Final.

The match was played in front of 43,881 supporters at the Aviva Stadium, a record-breaking attendance for an Irish cup final, with Melia becoming the youngest-ever player to feature in a FAI Cup Final, doing so at the age of just 16 years and 50 days.

Journalist Conor McEvoy described Melia as a “terrific talent”, with Mark Gallagher of Extra Ireland believing he is valued at €1m (around £835,000), which would smash the League of Ireland record, currently held by Liam Scales, who joined Celtic for €600,000 from Shamrock Rovers in 2021.

As noted by Football Insider, due to Brexit regulations, Melia cannot join a British club until after his 18th birthday, meaning no move will take place until January 2026 at the earliest, but that does not mean Celtic, or anyone else for that matter, cannot agree a deal now.

How Mason Melia would fit in at Celtic

Should the teenager choose to make the move to Parkhead, he would face tough competition for a starting spot from fellow strikers Kyōgo Furuhashi and Adam Idah.

Idah became an instant Celtic hero by scoring a 90th-minute winner against Rangers in last season’s Scottish Cup Final, but has not lived up to these lofty expectations since his move from Norwich was made permanent, at the huge cost of £9.5m.

He came in for scathing criticism from Sky Sports pundits Kris Boyd, Neil Lennon and James McFadden after Tuesday’s game, with Boyd saying “he doesn’t seem to be the same player” as last season, adding “he needs to do more”.

So, perhaps there would be room in the squad for Meila to make an impression?

Regardless of current form, Idah, as well as the aforementioned Scales, are simply the latest in a long line of Irish Celtic players, 22 have made a senior appearance to be exact, some of whom are amongst the club’s biggest legends.

Some all-time legends are on this list, none more so than Pat Bonner, only five players have made more appearances than him in the club’s entire history, while Roy Keane and Robbie Keane are at the other end of the scale as football greats, if not so much when bedecked in green and white hoops.

So, if Melia does move to the Scottish champions, he’ll be following in the footsteps of plenty of Irish legends… and Shane Duffy, but we don’t mention him.