Luke McCowan has emerged as one of Brendan Rodgers’ star pupils at Celtic this campaign as the summer signing goes from strength to strength in the Bhoys’ engine room.
Earning his third start for his boyhood club last weekend, it is fair to say the £1 million addition took his moment in the spotlight in the Hoops’ 5-0 victory over Ross County.
Using his licence to roam in the engine room, McCowan registered a goal and three assists against the Staggies and has sent tongues wagging after another competent performance from the start.
Labelled a ‘revelation’ by Chris Sutton, the 26-year-old is showing the value for money present in the Scottish Premiership when players are profiled to suit a tactical framework efficiently.
Now, Brendan Rodgers has expanded on McCowan’s suitability to Celtic and why he could be set to reach new heights during his spell at the club.
Brendan Rodgers on Luke McCowan’s seamless Celtic transition
Speaking ahead of Celtic’s trip to face Aberdeen at Pittodrie, Rodgers pointed out that McCowan is always on the hunt to learn and applauded his ability to fit his tactical ideals by virtue of his hard work.
He explained: “He’s a learner, there’s absolutely no doubt about that, he’s got a great career ahead of him at Celtic. He has all the tools, coming in, it’s not an easy adaptation to come into a big club with big expectation and pressure , but he’s settled in really, really well.
He’s now one of us. I see this winning mentality, I see the hunger he has to learn, I see the humbleness every day in how hard he works.
He knows that whether he comes off the bench or whether he starts a game, the opportunity is there for him to make an impact. It’s so important to have guys that are hungry and want to learn.”
Rodgers thinks Luke McCowan could earn Scotland call
Expanding on his exploits, Rodgers believes McCowan has every requisite quality to earn a call-up to the Scotland national side.
The Irishman said: “I don’t think there’s any question of that. I think if you look at the tools that he has, I’ve seen it over many years, every good player can’t play at international level. International level for me is about technique, tactical idea and having a level of speed that allows you mobility to get round the field. You’ll have some really good players, but just maybe aren’t cut out for that mobility and fast pace at international level.
Luke has that, if I look at him, technically, physically, that was the analysis we did before bringing him in to see where he was at in terms of his running power, his physicality, so that’s there at a really high level so we know he can do that.
“Technically, he’s finding the comfort in the game, tactically he’s shown he’s adapting, him and Paulo Bernardo were brilliant at the weekend in terms of how they linked together in terms of how we play. Like I said, he has personality, there’s absolutely no doubt, you play for Celtic, he’s going to be able to play for Scotland for sure.”
With McCowan earning adulation for his recent form, the real question now centres around whether he will keep hold of a place in midfield when the Bhoys take on Aberdeen tomorrow.
Despite competition for places, it would be really hard to argue that the former Dundee midfielder doesn’t deserve another crack of the whip.
