CELTIC MAY YET add to their League of Ireland contingent before the close of the January transfer window, as the club are understood to be the leading contender to sign teenage striker Michael Harris from Derry City. 

Celtic have signed Johnny Kenny and Liam Scales from the League of Ireland in the last year, and it’s understood Harris may next be in line for a move across to Scotland, having impressed on trial. He has also been linked with a move to Stoke City of the English Championship. 

Harris spent last season on the fringes of the Derry first team, and scored the winning penalty in Derry’s U19 Enda McGuill Cup shootout victory over Bohs, a team managed by Jim McGuinness. 

He was offered a contract renewal at Derry but manager Ruaidhri Higgins admitted the club were competing with UK clubs for his services, and a move to Celtic – and at least an initial start with their ‘B’ side – is now in the offing. 

Derry are not entitled to a fee as Harris is not under contract, but they will be entitled to the Fifa-mandated compensation. 

Elsewhere in Scotland, Irish defender Darragh O’Connor has left Motherwell on loan, dropping down to the Scottish Championship to join bottom club Queen of the South until the end of the season. O’Connor left Wexford to join the Leicester City academy in 2019, where he spent two seasons before moving to Motherwell.