Celtic's English League One transfer options: Winger with extraordinary footwork and 'bullseye' central defender

O'Riley's early success in the SPFL Premiership could tempt the Hoops to scout out more talents from that division.

Here, we look at three players whose impressive season in League One could be of interest to Ange Postecoglou and Celtic...

Josh Martin (Doncaster Rovers)

Nationality: English; Age: 20; Position: Left winger; Preferred foot: Right; TransferMarkt Value: £900,000

Josh Martin is a young and capable winger who spent last season on loan at Doncaster from Norwich City. He actually spent time alongside O'Riley at MK Dons at the start of the campaign but did not earn as many minutes as he did with the Reds.

As you can see from his heatmap above, Martin mostly plays in the left channel and is best suited on that flank. He spent time on the left of the attack in a 4-3-3 for Doncaster towards the end of the season.

In around 1,765 minutes in League One, Martin scored four times and assisted thrice (all for Doncaster). The youngster is not what you could term an electric winger but instead one who is quick with the ball at his feet. He possesses extraordinary footwork and close control which enables him to wriggle his way round players.

As the numbers show, he is not only a high-volume dribbler but a naturally good one. This assists him in getting the better of opposition full-backs in one-v-one situations.

Arguably his most exciting trait is his tendency to roam around the half-spaces and pick up the ball in between the lines as a facilitator. Martin loves being on the ball more than anything else and as such is usually quick in his decision-making. In addition, he often attracts players to him and this creates space for his team-mates to run into.

Martin is more of an on-the-ball player than an 'off-it'. Although his link-up play isn’t the greatest, he has good awareness of his team-mates and that ability to make decisions quicker than most can be seen in him making the right passes regularly even though the final execution could improve.

Despite his lack of physicality, the young winger has a great centre of gravity which helps him keep his balance even when opponents try to outmuscle him. This also aids in him turning around his marker and progressing the ball forward, with his close control and footwork combining to help him win fouls regularly too.

Martin’s overall output is one that could be improved and, despite being a high-volume shooter, his shot selection needs to be worked on as well. Perhaps most enticingly, his contract has just one year left to run.

George Johnston (Bolton Wanderers)

Nationality: Scottish; Age: 23; Position: Centre-back; Preferred foot: Left; Height: 5ft 11in; TransferMarkt Value: £230,000

Celtic are reportedly close to making Cameron Carter-Vickers a permanent signing this summer but if they can get a cheap and potent left-footed left centre-back to provide competition for Carl Starfelt, they would be hitting the bullseye. George Johnston of Bolton is a name that could potentially be considered in this mould.

Bolton started the season playing a back four with Johnston playing on the left but, in the second half of the campaign, they also occasionally used a back three with Johnston settling on the left of the three. The heatmap above shows his involvement at the back with him often deciding to step out and move wide when in a back three to try to influence the game with his passing.

Johnston is very good in possession and fits the bill of being a good centre-back with the ball. He is great at progressing it with his passing over both long and short distances and is capable of doing so via carries too.

He is talented at baiting opposition attackers before changing direction and driving forward into space. This trait is especially useful when there are limited passing options available.

Additionally, when he is pressed he can rely on his physicality to brush off opposition attackers.

On the ball, Johnston has an impressive technique of whipping long passes and is good at knowing when to switch play. His long diagonals often help progress his team to the next phase when the midfield is crowded.

When he is pressed, he tends to play it safe but if the ball is not under control he is not averse to going the no-nonsense method. While he is certainly adept defensively, he still has a few areas he can improve.

Aerially, he stands at 5ft 11in so is not particularly tall for a centre-back while occasionally his balance can let him down when engaging in duels.

A 71.6 per cent ground duels win rate is quite good but he can sometimes be a bit slow to react and thus get turned easily. Despite all of that, he is pretty quick over the ground and that helps him recover quickly.

Johnston is more of a ‘dog’ than a ‘cat’ - if we are using renowned tactics writer Michael Cox’s terminology - as he likes to jump out and engage in challenges rather than wait it out.

Overall, his ball-playing ability in itself should alert Celtic’s recruitment team while he could potentially be a low-cost answer to the left-footed centre-back issue.

Daniel Neil (Sunderland)

Nationality: English; Age: 20; Position: Defensive midfielder; Preferred foot: Left

A player who has been racking up interest from even Premier League clubs is Sunderland’s Dan Neil - and it is with good reason. The 20-year old has been an influential player for Sunderland this past season, helping them get promoted to the Championship after several years in League One.

Despite this, Neil has often come off the bench since February to play as the deepest midfielder in a 4-3-3 as well as slightly further forward.

Neil ended the season being nominated for the young player of the year award after having won the North-east Football Writers’ Association’s prize last year.

The 20-year old is a very technical player and, as you can see from his numbers, tries to be vertical with his passing most of the time when progressing the ball.

One of the things he has been consistently good at doing this season is to drive from the midfield and skip past players using his strong dribbling and close control. Neil also has the ability to break lines as well as find runners with his through balls; despite being designated a defensive midfielder he remains a player who loves to get involved in the final phase of play where possible. His ability to attract players and skip past them and find defence-splitting passes is a joy to watch at times.

With three goals and seven assists to his name in League One this season, he has also contributed in terms of raw output even though he is in general a safe passer with 84.3 per cent completion rate (among the top percentiles for midfielders in the division).

On top of his strengths on the ball, Neil is also sound defensively. The young Englishman will need to work on his defensive game more if he is to be a defensive midfielder long-term but he seems to be highly suited to a central midfield role in any case and thrives with a bit of additional freedom.

He does go to the ground trying to win the ball often but despite this he rarely gives away fouls compared to the league average. That said, his awareness when his team is out of possession can definitely still be improved upon.

Like O’Riley, Neil is something of a young sensation who has the potential to make it to international level.

Sunderland's promotion means he is possibly unlikely to leave this summer and, if he were, a fee of around £3million might be expected. Nonetheless, he is a player who could fit into the Celtic midfield rotation and subsequently be sold on for an even higher fee in the future.