Brendan Rodgers is convinced Luke McCowan has a huge future at Celtic – and Scotland.
The midfielder grabbed his big chance with a man of the match display in Saturday’s 5-0 romp against Ross County and is in with a shout of starting Wednesday’s crunch clash with Aberdeen. Rodgers has plenty of options to pick from but he has no doubt McCowan will star for Celts and can become a major player with his national team as well.
He said: “I don’t think there’s any question of that. I think if you look at the tools that he has, because I’ve seen it for many years, I see every good player can’t play at international level. International level for me is about technique, technical idea and having a level of speed that allows you mobility to get around the field.
“So you’ll have some really good players, but just maybe aren’t quite 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 that 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, really high level. So we know he can do that.
“Technically, he’s finding the comfort now in the game. Tactically, like I said, he’s shown that you see how quickly now he’s adapted. Him and Paulo Bernardo were brilliant at the weekend in terms of how they linked together.
“So that tells you he’s learning all the concepts and principles of how we play. Like I said, he has personality and there’s absolutely no doubt. You play for Celtic, he’s going to be able to play for Scotland for sure.”
McCowan was spotted quizzing Rodgers and skipper Callum McGregor at the weekend and Rodgers insisted the playmaker’s willingness to listen will take him to the top. The boss said: “He’s a learner. He’s got a great career ahead of him here at Celtic. He has all the tools. It’s not an easy adaptation to come into a big club with big expectations and pressure, but he’s settled in really, really well.
“He’s now one of us because I see this winning mentality. I see the hunger he has to learn. I see the humbleness every day and how hard he works.
“He knows when he comes off the bench, when he starts a game, the opportunities he has for him to make an impact. It’s so important to have guys that are hungry and want to learn.
“He’s a joy to work with. I think when you’ve got guys like Calum MacGregor, it’s the beauty of having players like Calum MacGregor because then you create more Calum MacGregor’s.
“That’s why you have top, top professionals. The learning that he will get on a day-to-day basis from seeing the likes of Calum and working with the coaches and myself, you have to be curious, you have to want to learn. He’s certainly one of those.”
Rodgers made six changes at the weekend but he insisted any one of a number could get the nod at Pittodrie. He said: “I think what was great about the weekend was it showed you that football really is a process of bringing players in. They’re not cover players. I would have absolutely no hesitation in starting the same team at Aberdeen.”