Friday 25 January 2019 15:48, UK
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers believes on-loan winger Oliver Burke has all the attributes to become an outstanding striker.
The 21-year-old joined Celtic from West Brom earlier this month on a deal until the end of the season and scored his first goals for the club on Wednesday in a 4-0 victory over St Mirren.
Burke has endured a testing start to his career, failing to justify significant transfer fees after moving from Nottingham Forest to RB Leipzig and then from the Bundesliga side to West Brom.
"It's been a trying couple of seasons for him in terms of everything that's gone on, but I think what's very clear is that he's a huge talent and we're here to help develop that and, in turn, that will be good for Celtic," Rodgers said.
"I think that Oliver's equally as comfortable playing up front as he would be wide. I think the difference is that when he's played up front, you need to coach him in that.
"People say you need to put an arm around him but it's a bit more than that, you've got to help him on the field, you've got to sit down and go through like we've done analysing his game. But he has all the tools to be an outstanding front player whether that's through the middle or wide."
Burke is not the only new arrival to have made an impact for the Scottish champions, with fellow loan signing Timothy Weah having scored two goals in as many substitute appearances after joining from Paris Saint-Germain.
The duo are likely to feature as Celtic look to maintain their lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership when they host struggling Hamilton on Saturday. Celtic are a point ahead of second-placed Kilmarnock and three points ahead of Rangers and Aberdeen, but hold a game in hand over all three.
"They've been excellent. Oliver and Timothy have both been very, very good. They've settled into our style really, really well, very quickly," Rodgers said.
"Both boys have really enjoyed being here in the environment. It's very much a culture we have here of development and improving players and these are two young players that have come to want to do exactly that.
"It's been good to see them smiling and enjoying their time here and of course very early they've contributed, which is good."
