LIAM SHAW could turn out to be Celtic’s steal of the century.
That’s the view of former Hoops defender Glenn Loovens who charted the progress of Sheffield Wednesday’s 19-year-old versatile star who has agreed a pre-contract with the champions, as CQN reported earlier this week.
The towering teenager can play in in midfield or central defence – provoking memories of a young Kristoffer Ajer when he arrived from FK Start five years ago – and will arrive in the summer with the Yorkshire club receiving £300,000 in a cross-border compensation fee.
Dutchman Loovens, who was signed by Gordon Strachan from Cardiff City in 2008 and remained in Glasgow for four years, also had a five-season spell at Hillsborough just as Shaw was coming through the youth ranks.
The former centre-back, 37, admitted: “I think Celtic have probably got a bargain with this guy.
“Liam was quite young when I was at Wednesday, so he wasn’t involved when I was in the first team.
“But I’ve seen him at least twice this year, playing at centre-half, and I thought he looked really good.
“From then on, I started following him a little bit. He is a guy with potential and he’s still very young, so he still has room to grow.”
Loovens, speaking to the Scottish Sun, added: “He can play multiple positions, which isn’t always a good thing, but time will tell what his best position will be.
“I think he’s made a lot of progress this year.
“I’m not sure what went on behind the scenes at the club, but when a young talent is walking out the door for only a small fee, they must be disappointed.
“They probably invested a lot of time and energy in this kid progressing.”
