Aodhán Ó Conchobhair 
Celtic could be closing in on another exciting young midfielder.
And this one is particularly interesting.
Van den Berg is only 19, but he has already made his senior debut for PSV and is the captain of the Netherlands Under-19 side. He stands at 6 ft 2 in and operates primarily as a central midfielder.
A Player With Plenty of Potential
Last season, Van den Berg made five appearances for PSV’s first team while regularly featuring for Jong PSV.
His numbers at reserve level were impressive, too.
Seven goals and four assists in 26 appearances.
He’s also started this season strongly, scoring twice in his opening three games for Jong PSV.
That is the sort of profile Celtic should be looking for.
Young.
Tall.
Technically capable.
Already exposed to first-team football.
And coming from an elite academy.
Another Midfielder?
Some supporters will inevitably look at this and ask why Celtic are considering another midfielder when there are still obvious gaps elsewhere.
But the answer could be the age profile.
Van den Berg isn’t being signed to immediately to become the sole answer to the midfield problems exposed by LASK.
He’s a player who could develop into a major asset.
And with Celtic trying to rebuild the midfield another high-potential signing makes sense.
A Different Kind of Signing
After the disappointment of LASK, Celtic needs immediate quality.
But we also need to operate in our financial model of buying low and selling high.
Van den Berg represents the latter.
He isn’t the finished article.
That’s the point.
Celtic could potentially take a highly-rated PSV youngster, give him first-team football, develop him and potentially turn him into a major player.
The bigger question now is whether this is another name that gets discussed for weeks or whether the board actually gets the deal over the line.
Because supporters have heard enough about potential signings.
Now we want to see them wearing the shirt.
Key Takeaways
- Celtic targets young midfielder Joel van den Berg, who is only 19 and already has senior experience at PSV.
- Van den Berg has shown promising results, scoring seven goals and assisting four in reserve matches last season.
- Fans question the need for another midfielder, but Celtic focuses on developing young talents like Van den Berg for the future.
- Celtic may pursue both Van den Berg and Ermin Mahmic as they seek to strengthen their midfield with high-potential players.
- The club needs to act decisively to bring in players, as supporters are eager to see new signings in action.
We’ve moved from established international players to a player with single digits first team appearances, that should not be lauded.
The money is there for the original targets, not spending it is a choice
What a load of happy clappers crap ,good news stories from the happy clappers plc and suddenly Everything is alright Desmond and his malignant cabal of corporate greed and austerity fc are winners even when celtic get beat in a humiliating fashion . Stop giving them your money or you are complicit in the destruction of our club, does a yone thi k that we will get through three qualifying rounds to get into champions league, of course not ,so bye bye champions league ad infinitum