Opinion – Lucas Clearie should be given his debut at Celtic Park next weekend

Celtic starlet Lucas Clearie has been in impressive form of late, scoring for fun in the lowland league for the Celtic B side, and now he’s doing similar in the international scene after opening his Scotland under 19 account after bagging a goal for his country in the recent 3-1 win over Kazakhstan.

The 17 year old who made the bench for the recent Europa league clash against Benfica in Lisbon, signed his first professional contract in the summer of 2025, and is highly regarded at Celtic Park, with it being widely expected that he’ll be in the first team squad plans in the near future.

It’s been a long time since we produced a home grown player who’s made an impact in the first team, especially a centre forward, and there’s high hopes that Lucas can do just that.

However, we have to be weary that we don’t make the same mistakes we’ve been guilty of in the past and let the youngsters slip through our grasp at the first sign of attention from the clubs with deep pockets down south.

So many promising talents have been allowed to leave without so much as a fight, and whilst we may have our backs to the wall in terms of finance, we don’t show enough fight when it comes to keeping hold of our young talent with the compensation fee on offer enough for our club to quickly conclude a deal.

The likes of Ben Doak, Aiden Borland, Rocco Vata, Daniel Kelly, and Daniel Cummings have all been tempted by the fame and riches on offer down south, and we can only hope young Lucas isn’t another name on that list.

We need to get back to producing and keeping hold of our own young talent. Ones that can make their mark on the first team.

Martin O’Neill should be showing Lucas that there is a viable pathway to the Celtic first team and a debut from the bench against St Mirren at Celtic Park would be a good way to start.

Just an Ordinary Bhoy