"The thing that concerns me..." - West Brom fan pundit reacts to Celtic transfer agreement | OneFootball

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

West Bromwich Albion made Celtic's Mikey Johnston a deadline day signing this year, adding him to Carlos Corberan's squad on a loan deal until the end of the season.

The Republic of Ireland international came through the academy at Celtic, debuting at the age of 18 before signing a long-term deal with the club.

Despite getting regular football on loan in Portugal for Vitoria Guimaraes last season, he has struggled to get himself back in the plans of Brendan Rodgers at Parkhead.

This has led to his temporary exit from the club, and that could end up becoming a permanent one in the summer should the 24-year-old impress at The Hawthorns.

do in their chase for promotion this season.

Johnston's transfer is intriguing, but a risk

FLW's West Brom fan pundit Matt Smith is intrigued by the loan signing of Johnston this month, although he has reservations about what he can offer Albion.

He notes that while the Celtic winger clearly has talent, he has failed to become a starter for Celtic, and Smith wonders whether he is good enough to replace Jeremy Sarmiento - who was recalled by Brighton and sent to Ipswich Town - for the Baggies until the end of the campaign.

"The signing of Johnston is an interesting one, because Celtic fans don't really seem to be waxing lyrical about him, which is never encouraging," Matt said when speaking to Football League World.

"First and foremost, I think it was important we replaced Sarmiento, so on paper that has been done. From what I have seen and from what I can gather from what fans are saying, stats and clips I've seen, he comes across as a player with some ability.

"He's played for Ireland, he's played for his country, so he must have something - he just may have struggled to channel that effectively.

"He made his debut at 18, so he must have ability, and I think Brendan Rogers is - or was a fan.

"He's just lost his way. Maybe you could liken him to Diangana in that way.

"He had a good loan in Portugal, which was interesting, so that does appeal, although if he can't get in Celtic's team, can he get in ours?

"To me, he comes across as a player that may have lost his way, but has talent. Can Carlos Corberan get the best out of him? You'd back him too, so I'm intrigued to see how he gets on.

"What do I make of it? I'm intrigued, and hopefully it's going to workout for everybody involved.

"The thing that concerns me about Johnston also is that his injury record is very patchy, and the problem with that is we've already got a number of attackers missing, so it makes very little sense to sign somebody with a bad injury record. It's a bit of a risk."

Johnston may not be the best fit for West Brom

With the Baggies challenging for promotion this season, Johnston may not have been the player they needed to sign this month.

The club did need to replace winger Jeremy Sarmiento, whose loan spell was cut short last month before he transferred to Ipswich Town on a temporary deal.

Johnston was signed as the man to replace Sarmiento, who was used off the bench more often than he started, but he seems an odd fit for the club.

The Irish forward is out of favour at Celtic, and has struggled to get into the Scottish giants' side, playing just nine times in the league and starting just three times.

He has played less than 100 matches for Celtic in eight years, partially due to his injury issues.

due to fitness problems, which is a worrying statistic considering he is just 24 years of age.

Given his lack of game time in his career so far and continued issues with injuries, the deal to sign Johnston is certainly a risk for West Brom.

Whether he can be a key part of the side is still to be seen, but the club will hope he can help push them towards promotion.