There is often a lot of debate around whether players can make the step up from the SPFL to the English Premier League. For years we have seen players go down south and excel at the club they have moved to, some have even gone on to make an even bigger move. Yet there definitely seems to be a lot of ignorance from English supporters about the Scottish game and the players that come out of it.
Over the last 10 years Celtic have sold many players to Premier League clubs: Kristoffer Ajer, Kieran Tierney, Virgil van Dijk, Fraser Forster, and Victor Wanyama, to name a few. The latter being the only one who isn’t currently still playing in the league. Out of the five mentioned, two are currently still with the same club and three moved on to a so-called ‘bigger club’ in the league.
In the 2019/20 season, Virgil van Dijk won the Premier League with Liverpool and was runner-up to Lionel Messi for the Ballon d’Or. The Dutch centre-half was also a Champions League winner with Liverpool the previous season.
Those five are just a few of many who have moved down to the Premier League and slotted into a team with ease. So why the arrogance?
When speaking on the subject to Boyle Sports, former Celtic boss Neil Lennon said:
“Celtic are full of players that could play in the Premier League, such as Reo Hatate, Callum McGregor, Alistair Johnston could all progress to England.”
However, it is not just Celtic players that have moved down south and achieved success.
Lennon also had to say: “I want to keep an eye out for Ryan Porteous who’s gone to Watford, he’s done very well there, and he plays for Scotland. John McGinn, Andy Robertson and other Scottish players who made the move to the Premier League show the way the SPFL develops players.”
Van Dijk’s current team-mate Andy Robertson moved to Hull City from Dundee United back in 2014. The Tigers were a Premier League side when the Scottish left-back joined, however, did not manage to stay up that season. Robertson stuck with the club and was part of the squad that got them straight back up to the top-flight through the play-offs. In 2017 the left-back moved to Liverpool where he would go on to enjoy the same success as van Dijk.
Porteous and McGinn both moved down south from Hibernian, who were once a club who were always known for producing quality through their ranks. In more recent times we haven’t seen a large number of youth candidates coming through the ranks at Scottish clubs outside of Glasgow and bursting on to the scene the way they once did.
On that matter, Neil Lennon said: “The next one to come through is difficult to say, for me. There’s been too big of a gap between Celtic, Rangers and the rest of the league. There needs to be more development in players so there can be a dent made in the league.”
One thing is for certain, Scotland have and always will produce players that will move on to Premier League clubs and achieve great success.
BOBBY GORDON
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