Opinion: Celtic need to learn lesson from 21-year-old’s loan move

Celtic sent Liam Shaw on loan to Motherwell in the January transfer window, presumably in order to get the player some first-team football.

The player joined the Hoops on a pre-contract agreement in the summer, and he has made a few appearances so far for the Celtic first-team, two in total.

However, his move to Fir Park hasn’t really worked out, as the 21-year-old has played just seven times for the Premiership side. 

He has featured in just one of Motherwell’s last six league games, interestingly that was when he came on at half-time of the 2-2 draw with Rangers at Ibrox, helping his loan side come from two goals down to get a point.

Celtic can’t be too pleased with the fact that the player hasn’t been involved in that many games for Motherwell. Perhaps that could mean that Celtic should try and get a clause put in any future loan deal that a player that leaves Celtic has to play a certain number of games for the team that he is joining.

Would clubs agree to such a deal? That remains to be seen, but it would allow them to have a promising Celtic youngster in their side each week. That would be good for all parties – the player, the loan club and Celtic.

That would surely be enticing to clubs that want to sign a Celtic player on loan, if they need to play the player in a certain number of games.

Loan deals are really only worth it if the player features regularly for the team that they join. The move to Motherwell hasn’t really worked out for Shaw, as he has not featured that often in the last month for the Fir Park side.

Loan deals have worked for Celtic in the past, you only need to look at how Ryan Christie and Kristoffer Ajer became Hoops first-team regulars after loan moves to Aberdeen and Kilmarnock. They became