Celtic looking to loan out highly rated Irish youngster

Brendan Rodgers has revealed that Celtic want to send Irish prospect Eoghan O’Connell on loan.

The 21 year old defender impressed for the Bhoys during preseason, but has found first team minutes hard to come by since then.

Kolo Toure, Mikael Lustig, Jozo Simunovic and Erik Sviatchenko are all ahead of O’Connell in the pecking order at Celtic Park, so a loan switch may be the best solution for the Irish centre half.

“We have had a couple of enquiries for Eoghan in terms of a loan,” Rodgers said.

“I think he’s a young player that needs to play games.

“There’s a few clubs that are interested in him so we will see.

“He did very well in pre-season but the team has changed and he is not getting so much game time. So if he can get out on loan that will give him the game time he needs to develop.”

Rodgers is believed to rate the youngster highly, and Martin O’Neill will be tracking his development over the coming years.

O’Connell performed well against Leicester and Barcelona in preseason, and Rodgers was quick to offer praise in August.

“What I like about Eoghan is he knows the game, physically he can go and win headers, he can dominate, he’s calm in possession,” he told the media.

“There are good players in Ireland, there always have been, but he’s ready to learn, and, from what I can see so far, he’ll do well.”