Aidan Nesbitt signs on loan from Celtic

Manager Jim Duffy had today sealed his second signing in the space of 24 hours by bringing Celtic winger Aidan Nesbitt to Morton on a development loan until 4 January 2017.

Considered one of the brightest young talents in the Scottish game, the capture of 19-year-old Nesbitt (pictured, centre front) is something of a coup for the club.

And the thrilled Ton boss said: “Aidan is another talented young player who we’ve been able to bring in on loan. He’s a terrific young footballer but he’s only 19 so we don’t want to put too much expectation on him.

“But he certainly has really good ability and again gives us another dimension at the top of the pitch and that is important to us. And with Kudus [Oyenuga] and Aidan coming in it’s given us real options and competition there now.”

Aidan is a player the gaffer had been tracking for a number of weeks and he was pleased to be able to complete the move in time for him to be eligible to face Hamilton Accies tonight.

He added: “We spoke to Chris McCart a few weeks ago regarding Aidan and he wasn’t just quite ready to go out at that time because they had the new manager coming in and they were assessing things.

“It just took a wee bit of time for that to clear and Brendan [Rodgers] gave the go-ahead and the boy was delighted to come to us, so I’m really pleased about that. He trained with us this morning and will be in the squad for tonight’s Betfred Cup tie against Hamilton.”

A Scotland Under-19 international, the wideman collected the Celtic Academy Player of the Year last term on top of making his first-team bow as a substitute in a League Cup tie against Raith Rovers.

Aidan went out on loan to Partick Thistle in February and made four starts and three substitute appearances in the Scottish Premiership, picking up a man of the match award on his debut against St Johnstone.

No stranger to Cappielow, the teenager has performed in Greenock on a number occasions in recent seasons as a member of the Parkhead club’s development squad.

Most recently he scored twice as the Celtic Under-20s recorded a 5-1 win over Annan Athletic in the first round of the Irn-Bru Challenge Cup.

Aidan also played a starring role in our kitman Andy Bryan’s testimonial last July as well as in Scotland colours with an impressive display for the Under-17s as they beat Belgium 3-1 in March 2014.

Photograph (main): David Bell

Photograph (inset): Antonia Kerr