Opinion: Midfielder's decision on his future should be to leave Celtic

It seems that veteran Celtic midfielder James McCarthy could be leaving the Hoops before the transfer window closes.

The Scottish Sun reports that the player is set to make a decision on his Celtic future ahead of the end of the transfer window on the 31st of August, and that clubs in England are keen to sign the midfielder. 

The former Crystal Palace star joined the Hoops last August, but has struggled to make the first-team most weeks and didn’t feature in the squad at all for the opening Premiership game of the season against Aberdeen.

If McCarthy has a decision to make it shouldn’t take him long – he should leave Celtic, as he has no long-term future at the club. He is 31-years-old, and at the moment the only way he would make the Hoops squad is if there are injuries.

The likes of Callum McGregor, Reo Hatate and David Turnbull will be featuring in the midfield far often than McCarthy likely will be in the 2022/23 season, and the fact that he didn’t make the squad at all for the Aberdeen game is a sign that his time at Celtic could well be over fairly soon.

Looking back at the McCarthy transfer, it did make sense for the Hoops to sign him when they did, as manager Ange Postecoglou was looking for players to add to his squad, and McCarthy has plenty of experience from his time in both English and Scottish football.

However, what has always looked like a mistake was the decision to give the player a contract until 2025, which looked like too long a contract when you consider that the player was 30-years-old when he joined Celtic. If the contract ended at the end of this season for example, then there could be an argument that it would be a good idea to keep the player at the club until his contract expires.

But with the