The Celtic Player Nobody Is Talking About Could Be the Answer to O’Neill’s Biggest Problem

Martin O’Neill has got a few problems to solve.

The Celtic manager has just confirmed he’s staying, the supporters are desperate for a response, and we’ve got nine games coming up in 28 days.

There is no shortage of questions.

How does he get Camilo Durán and Kasper Høgh working together?

Where does the creativity come from?

How do Celtic become less predictable?

And perhaps most importantly, where are the goals going to come from?

Well, maybe the answer is sitting right under our noses.

Because while everyone has been talking about Jota’s return, Camilo Durán, Kasper Høgh and the big-money summer arrivals, another Celtic forward has quietly been putting together some ridiculous numbers.

His name is Lucas Clearie.

And at just 17 years old, he’s making it increasingly difficult to ignore him.

Clearie has been tearing it up for Celtic B this season, scoring 10 times in the Lowland League.

Then there are his performances against senior opposition.

Five goals in just three KDM Evolution Trophy appearances.

A hat-trick against Stranraer and two against Hamilton.

And then, when Martin O’Neill’s first team played Falkirk in a behind-closed-doors bounce game during the international break, Clearie scored both goals in a 2-0 victory.

Everyone went into that game talking about Jota.

And rightly so.

After 524 days without playing, seeing Jota back on a football pitch was a brilliant moment.

But Clearie stole the show.

Two goals against Premiership opposition.

At 17.

That isn’t something we should just brush aside.

Now, nobody is suggesting we throw a 17-year-old into a massive game and expect him to suddenly solve all of Celtic’s problems.

That’s not how development works.

But there comes a point where you have to start asking the question.

How much more does the boy need to do?

Because this isn’t one good weekend.

This isn’t a teenager scoring a couple of goals against boys his own age and suddenly getting labelled the next big thing.

Clearie has been producing consistently.

He’s scoring against senior opposition.

He’s been called up by Scotland Under-19s.

And when given the opportunity against Falkirk, he didn’t look overawed.

He scored twice.

That is exactly the sort of thing that should make O’Neill sit up and take notice.

Especially when you look at Celtic right now.

We’re going into a brutal run of fixtures with questions over the balance of the attack and how best to use our expensive new forwards.

Carter-Vickers has already described some of Celtic’s football as looking too random.

O’Neill has admitted there are problems to work through.

And suddenly you’ve got a teenager banging goals in and offering something slightly different.

Hunger.

Movement.

Energy.

And, most importantly, goals.

Maybe that’s exactly what Celtic need.

We’ve become so accustomed to looking outside the club for solutions.

Another signing.

Another loan.

Another experienced player.

Another attacking option.

But what if one of the answers is already here?

That’s what makes Clearie’s emergence so interesting.

Because Celtic don’t need to protect him from the first team forever.

At some point, the pathway has to mean something.

If we’re serious about developing our own players, there has to be a moment where performances are rewarded with an opportunity.

And Clearie is getting dangerously close to forcing that opportunity.

The timing could actually be perfect.

Jota is working his way back.

The international break has given O’Neill time to assess his squad.

Nine games in 28 days are coming.

There will be injuries.

There will be tired legs.

There will be games where Celtic need something different.

Why couldn’t Clearie be that option?

Maybe he isn’t ready.

Maybe O’Neill decides he needs another six months with Celtic B.

Maybe the manager thinks throwing him into first-team football now would be the wrong thing for his development.

All perfectly reasonable.

But we shouldn’t confuse not being ready to start every week with not being ready for an opportunity.

Because those are two completely different things.

And right now, Clearie’s performances are demanding that opportunity.

The biggest danger is that we wait until he’s scoring goals somewhere else before we start asking why Celtic didn’t give him a chance.

We’ve seen that movie before.

So while everyone is discussing how O’Neill fixes Celtic, perhaps we should be looking a little closer to home.

The answer to one of his biggest problems might not be another signing.

It might not even be Jota.

It could be a 17-year-old Celtic academy striker called Lucas Clearie who has spent the opening months of this season doing everything he possibly can to get noticed.

Now it’s time to see if Celtic are actually watching.

Because the boy certainly looks ready to make us look.