League One club set to sign Celtic player amid Portsmouth and Bristol Rovers interest | OneFootball

The good relationship between Fleetwood Town and Celtic looks set to continue in 2023 as the Cod Army are poised to land one of the Scottish Premiership champions' top prospects.

Last summer, the Lancashire outfit appointed former Scotland international midfielder Scott Brown to his first ever managerial role and they finished a respectable 13th position in League One in his debut year in charge.

His most notable playing stint was at Celtic, where he was a hard-working, no-nonsense captain, so it only made sense if he were to sign players from his former club as they would be keen to help him out.

Brown signed midfielder Scott Robertson on a permanent basis from Celtic Park, and with the 2023-24 season already started, it looks as though Fleetwood are poised to add yet another youngster from Brendan Rodgers' side to their squad.

That is because according to Football Insider, a deal has been agreed for centre-back Bosun Lawal to join Town on a season-long loan deal, which will come after he signs a new contract with the Hoops.

And that will come as somewhat of a blow to some of Fleetwood's third tier rivals, with both Portsmouth and Bristol Rovers linked a few weeks ago with attempting to land the 20-year-old for their own clubs.

Who is Bosun Lawal?

Irish defender Lawal, who can also play in midfield, was actually snapped up by Watford in 2019 from Bohemians and won the Hornets' Academy Player of the Year in 2021, but he turned down the offer of a new contract and headed instead to Celtic Park.

Lawal has been featuring regularly for Celtic's B-team in the last couple of years whilst also captaining the Republic of Ireland under-19's side before his move up to the under-21's, and he finally made his debut first-team appearance in January 2023 in a Scottish FA Cup match against Morton.

To date though, that is Lawal's only senior appearance for the Hoops - he has been in the squad for three league matches but is yet to make his bow for Celtic in the Scottish Premiership.

His B team performances though did attract the attention of Premier League outfit Brentford late last year, but a move never arose as Verona and Pisa of Italy were also claimed to be watching.

What has Portsmouth's John Mousinho said on Bosun Lawal?

A number of weeks ago, as mentioned, Portsmouth were one of the clubs linked with a move for Lawal, but Pompey head coach John Mousinho appeared to shut that particular notion down.

"There’s nothing in that, I don’t know where it has come from," Mousinho told the Portsmouth News.

There was perhaps interest earlier on in the transfer window from Fratton Park, but their lack of need for another defender seemingly opened the door for Fleetwood, who have now pounced to land the youngster's signature.