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Orlando City SC‘s leading goalscorer in Major League Soccer to date, Cyle Larin has been linked with a January transfer window switch to Scottish giants Celtic.
According to a recent report by FourFourTwo USA’s Paul Tenorio who used to be Lions columnist for the Orlando Sentinel, Bhoys boss Brendan Rodgers is lining up 21-year-old Larin as a potential replacement for Moussa Dembele.
Dembele has been a revelation for the Hoops so far this season and already boasts 12 goals to his name so far this season across both Scottish Premiership and Champions League.
Unsurprisingly attracting reported interest from bigger fish such as Manchester United and Liverpool among other elite sides, it’s now being claimed that Cyle Larin could be Celtic’s contingency plan should they reluctantly part with the Frenchman this winter.
This isn’t the first time the Canadian international has been linked with a transfer to Europe with Benfica, Lazio, Lech Poznan, PSV Eindhoven and Sporting Lisbon having all been credited with an interest in the Orlando City SC star previously.
Earning the 2015 MLS Rookie of the Year prize after bagging an unprecedented 17 goals in his debut season, Cyle Larin struck 14 this past 2016 campaign to prove there was no sophomore slump.
With Tenorio’s report taken at face value, it would appear that Larin’s consistent goalscoring exploits haven’t gone unnoticed by Celtic who recently flew in Portland Timbers and USMNT star Darlington Nagbe who recently attended their game against Barcelona as a VIP.
Suggesting the Scottish giants are now embracing the American top flight as a viable passageway to source talent, Orlando City SC fans needn’t be panicking too much for now.
After all, Larin recently told the Orlando Sentinel: “It’s nice to know that teams are looking at me. I mean, my agent deals with it, not me. I just play, I make sure I get the job done.”