‘Stepping up’: Darren O’Dea names two youngsters who could be ones to watch at Celtic

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The Celtic youth academy has long been lauded for producing very good players recently.

The only issue that the Celtic support has is that there doesn’t seem to a pathway into the first team and that they continually watch as top talents like Ben Doak decide to go and ply their trade elsewhere.

It’s an issue that crops up regularly at the club but one that, hopefully won’t be an issue when it comes to the two players Celtic B team coach, Darren O’Dea mentioned.

Speaking on the Celtic website, O’Dea said young Sean McArdle and Ronan Ferns are two players who have helped improve the B team. Could they be ones to watch for in the future?

O’Dea said [Celtic FC], “Players like Sean McArdle and Ronan Ferns are the really young ones that are stepping up and have done really well.

“But also, the guys they are stepping up alongside, a lot of them are kind of first years as well. So, they’ve taken time to settle in.

“But when I think of where we were after the first game of the season, to where we are now, we have taken massive strides forward.”

Young McArdle has recently signed his first professional contract at Celtic after featuring in the UEFA Youth League 1-1 draw with Lazio just a few weeks ago.

The midfielder is highly rated at Celtic and has put pen to paper on a three-year deal lasting till 2026.

16-year-old Ronan Ferns was tipped to move to Brighton in the summer but still remains at the club. Contracted to 2026 also, the young centre-back is also extremely highly rated and has been capped at u16 level for Scotland.

So it seems the Celtic have two extremely talented youngsters in their ranks. With plenty of time to develop them, the supporters will be hoping that the club can find a path to the Celtic first-team for this young pair when they are ready to step up.

In other news, Celtic now linked with shock move to sign 24-year-old in January, Postecoglou says he’s ‘incredible’