Former Ireland international Gary Breen has claimed that Shane Duffy’s international future could be at threat due to the fact he plays for Celtic.

The ex Sunderland central defender claimed, when speaking to OTB Sports, that because Duffy was ‘stepping down a level’, Celtic’s gain could be Ireland’s loss because of the standard of football that the new hoops number four will be playing against.

“This is a brilliant move for Celtic, but the quality of player he is playing against now will be a big concern for Ireland.

“He is not going to be up against quality centre-forwards. There is no centre-forward in Scotland who would play in a Premier League team. None.

“He is going to be playing against lesser quality and that is a concern.”

Breen also claimed he expects Duffy to score an abundance of goals for the Scottish Champions due to his incredible threat in the air, which we  saw first-hand in the Ross County game yesterday.

“If he doesn’t score double figures, I’ll be amazed.

“For Celtic, I think it is a brilliant signing and he could go down as a club legend as they go for this 10-in-a-row season.”

These comments from Breen are pretty disrespectful in all honesty. It is likely, that he has never seen a game of Scottish Football in his life and won’t have a clue of the quality in the league.

In no way would Duffy make the move up north, if he didn’t feel it was a good one for his career. Celtic has been a place where several players have made the jump to many different international sides and featured frequently.

I’m confident that Duffy will easily show Breen up as to why playing in Scotland can be good for your career and shouldnt simply write players off.