Bosun Lawal to have his breakthrough at Celtic this year | OneFootball

One name that hasn’t been mentioned in quite some time is that of Bosun Lawal. Lawal arrived at Celtic Park with a big reputation, having already been promoted at Watford to play at a higher level than his age group. The Bhoys fought off lots of competition to secure the signature of the Republic of Ireland man but he hasn’t really been around the first-team since then.

A big, powerful frame, Bosun has the capability to play in both defence and midfield which is a priceless commodity in the modern game. Capped at U-21’s for Ireland, the utility man was Watford Academy’s Player of the Year in 2021, before he joined up with Tommy McIntyre and his Celtic B-team. At the time it was a real coup, haven beaten off likes of Chelsea and Norwich to secure his services.

Former Watford captain and stalwart, Troy Deeney, admitted his surprise and revealed he was left impressed after watching Lawal in action for Watford U-23’s. The striker even compared him to Everton’s Abdoulaye Doucoure, such was his presence. He said, via Daily Record: “I saw him against Newcastle, I thought he did well that day. Three or four days later they played Sheffield United and I was there we stood there and watched him. You know what, he’s got a little bit of [Abdoulaye] Doucoure about him. He can get past people effortlessly and keep striding, he has that big long stride.

“I thought he did really well. Three or four days after playing in the U23s, he played another 90 minutes and it was effortless to him. I think there’s not many young players that catch your eye and you think ‘he’s going to have a career’, but he certainly does that.”

Now he has been earning his spurs in the Lowland League and was praised in April by his coach at Celtic. As reported by Football Scotland at the time, McIntyre said: “I think he’s been a real find. He had a bad injury there and was out for a long period of time and then there were some other medical problems. He’s come back and he’s gone away with the Republic [of Ireland]. I think he can do more, and he’ll probably say the same thing I think. But that’s up to the staff to make sure we get the best out of him. He’s still young, but I think there’s potential there. Like everybody else there’s potential, they’re not the finished article. But he’s one we’re hopeful of for the future.”

Bosun, for all his physicality is still only 19-years-old and is developing and maturing as a player. However, with such lavish praising of his attributes and abilities, it does make you wonder just when we will get to catch a glimpse of that big frame of his in the Celtic first-team set-up. Strength is definitely something Ange’s team is still missing overall and it wouldn’t do any harm to give the boy a run out during our pre-season matches in the month of July.

That is entirely at the managers discretion though, and it may be that Ange still doesn’t feel he is ready for the demands of playing in his system with the responsibility he places upon his charges. But surely friendlies are intended just for this purpose? Hopefully we get to see what Lawal is all about either in Austria or the games at Parkhead before the season starts.

Paul Gillespie