Celtic have found their own Lennon Miller in 10/10 "game winner"

Celtic have enjoyed a phenomenal start to the 2024/25 campaign under Brendan Rodgers and have not shown many cracks domestically or in Europe.

Their lowest moment of the season so far was the 7-1 defeat to Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League, but that result was sandwiched between a 5-1 win over Slovan and a hard-fought 0-0 draw away at Atalanta in the competition.

The Hoops have since beaten RB Leipzig 3-1 at Parkhead and held Belgian giants Club Brugge to a 0-0 draw, which means that the club have only lost once in the Champions League this term.

Domestically, Celtic are in the final of the League Cup this month, with a Hampden Park clash with Rangers coming up, and have won a staggering 12 of their 13 matches in the Scottish Premiership.

Rodgers’ team are five points clear of Aberdeen in the table and appear to be on course for a second title in succession, after the Northern Irish boss won the league in his first season back at the club.

Despite Celtic’s immense success on the pitch, the Hoops are reportedly looking at players who could come in to bolster their squad in the January transfer window.

The latest Celtic transfer news

Most recently, it was reported that the Scottish giants are lining up a swoop for Brondby centre-forward Mathias Kvistgaarden to come in and compete with Adam Idah and Kyogo Furuhashi.

Celtic are reportedly long-term admirers of the Denmark U21 international and are now preparing a possible move for him in January, although they are said to be willing to wait until the summer if they cannot convince the Superliga side to part ways with him midway through the season.

Football Insider have also claimed that the Hoops are interested in a deal to sign Manchester United veteran Christian Eriksen, but may have to wait until the summer for financial reasons.

Rangers and Celtic are said to be competing with each other to land a loan swoop for Brighton and Ireland centre-forward Evan Ferguson, who has been given the green light to secure a temporary move in January.

The Premiership champions have also been linked with an interest in Motherwell central midfielder Lennon Miller, who has caught the eye domestically with his performances as a teenager in the top-flight.

Last month, the Daily Mail reported that Celtic and Rangers are both preparing to make offers for the 18-year-old starlet in the January transfer window, whilst Premier League giants Liverpool are also keeping tabs on his situation.

It was also claimed that the Premiership side are looking for a fee of at least £4m, a club record for Motherwell, in order to part ways with their impressive academy graduate.

Lennon Miller’s performances this season

The Scotland international could be a terrific addition to the Celtic squad because he has already proven himself to be a capable performer at first-team level at such a young age.

Miller, who only turned 18 in August, has started all 13 of Motherwell’s matches in the Premiership so far this term, which shows how much his manager trusts him, despite his relative inexperience at first-team level.

The Scottish whiz did, however, play 25 times as a 17-year-old in the league during the 2023/24 campaign, which allowed him to slowly settle into senior football before going on to thrive this season.

Miller has showcased his quality in and out of possession for Motherwell with goal contributions in the final third and a defensive presence off the ball to help his team at both ends of the pitch.

As you can see in the table above, the teenage sensation has offered a threat in attack with eight goals and ‘big chances’ created combined in 13 appearances for the Premiership side.

However, he has also provided quality off the ball with multiple tackles and interceptions per game to win possession back for his side, whilst winning the majority of his physical battles.

Whilst he could arrive at Parkhead as a terrific young prospect with the potential to improve, Rodgers may have already brought in his own version of Miller in the form of Luke McCowan.

Celtic’s very own Lennon Miller

The Scottish central midfielder, who was brought in from Dundee in the summer, enjoyed his breakthrough performance in a Celtic shirt on Saturday with his 10/10 Sofascore rating against Ross County.

McCowan was selected from the start alongside Callum McGregor and Paulo Bernardo and ran the show for the Scottish giants, with a goal and three assists in the first-half of the match.

The left-footed wizard, who captain McGregor claimed has “massive quality”, created a staggering eight chances and made two tackles in just 70 minutes on the pitch, as he contributed to four of the team’s five goals.

McCowan, like Miller, is a central midfielder who can provide a combative presence out of possession as well as offering quality on the ball in the final third, as both a scorer and a creator of goals for the team.

As you can see in the table above, the 26-year-old star has contributed with 15 goals, 11 ‘big chances’ created, and nine assists in 43 Premiership starts since the beginning of last season.

McCowan also averaged 2.5 tackles and interceptions and 9.3 ball recoveries per game in 37 appearances in the division during the 2023/24 campaign for Dundee, which shows that he can be combative and consistently win possession back for the team.

These statistics show that the Celtic wizard, who was described as a “game winner” by Marvin Bartley, is similar to Miller in the sense that they can both break up play whilst offering a threat as a scorer and a creator of goals.

This means that Rodgers already has his own version of the Motherwell star, but that does not mean that the teenager should not be a target, as he is eight years younger than McCowan and could be his long-term successor.