The winger is, remarkably, in his eighth season as a senior Bhoys player after making his debut during Brendan Rodgers’ first spell at the club in 2017.
It’s fair to say he’s had his ups and downs. There have been flashes of ability but a lack of consistency in a Celtic shirt, as well as debilitating injuries.
In recent seasons he’s had loan spells in Portugal and, most notably, at West Bromwich Albion. Johnston excelled for the Baggies in the second half of last season, increasing his profile and value as an asset with seven goals.
Regardless, he remains on the fringes of Rodgers’ squad, rarely in the starting eleven and used as a substitute or rotation option.
Asked about his future on Friday, the Celtic boss suggested an exit is on the cards, telling a media conference [Celtic FC]: “I’m open at the moment in terms of where things are at. I gave Mikey his debut back when he was 18 and played him so we’ve got a good relationship and we talk openly.
“I think he’s at the stage, Mikey, where he’ll probably want to play more. But he’s worked hard over pre-season and put himself in a really good position.
“There are some clubs that have shown interest in him, but we’ll see what happens over the next couple of weeks.”
Unfortunately for the winger, he took a sore facial injury in the closing stages of last week’s win over Hibernian at Easter Road and won’t be available for Sunday’s match in the Scottish League Cup.
Rodgers confirmed: “He won’t be available for the weekend. He’ll rejoin the training group fairly soon. He had a little problem with his eye socket up a bit deeper back in his face, but hopefully, he’ll be okay fairly soon.”
With teams potentially coming in to sign him, all parties will be keeping their fingers crosses that the injury doesn’t impact the possibility of a transfer somewhere else – if indee
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