There are a lot of things that have gone wrong at Celtic in recent years. One of them is the club's inability to bring through quality talents from the academy to the first team. In the past, such players used to be integral to the team.

Kieran Tierney, Callum McGregor, James Forrest, Aiden McGeady, Charlie Mulgrew and Shaun Maloney. Those are just some of the names that came through the ranks at Celtic in this century and established themselves as some of the best in Scotland.

Unfortunately, that pathway seems to be nonexistent at the moment. As a result, most have either left permanently, or had to go out on loan in search of playing time.

The latest name to join that list is that of Francis Turley. Very highly regarded while coming up through the ranks, he is 20 years old now, and has made just one senior appearance for Celtic.

Ayr United announced the signing of Turley on loan until the end of the season recently. And he has already made his debut for the club, with a cameo against St Johnstone.

Of course, Scott Brown has been the Ayr United manager since early 2024. In that period of time, he has used his connections with Celtic and signed quite a few of the club's youngsters on loan.

While they have gotten their chances at Ayr United, that has not converted to more playing time upon returning to Celtic. That has to be the long-term target when any youngster is sent out on loan.

Celtic's inability to bring through youngsters is not down to a lack of talent either. A perfect example of this is Rocco Vata. He was on the books at Parkhead for a long time, and an absolute standout at the youth level, but opportunities were limited in the senior team.

Ultimately, Vata made just six appearances for the club before leaving for Watford. He got his chances there and quickly was being regarded as one of the best talents in the English Championship, and being linked with a £20 million transfer away. Of course, injuries have affected his season this time around, but it is clear that the talent was never the problem for him. So, why did not the chances come at Celtic?

We can only wish Turley the best of luck in his loan spell. Let's hope that he ends the long run of academy graduates not getting a proper chance in the Celtic first-team in the future. Best of luck, Francis.

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