Former Celtic youngster Jack Aitchison has spoken out on his exit from Celtic in the summer and revealed how he wanted to leave the club before then. Confirming what many fans have feared, a frustrated young player who couldn’t see a path to the first team.
Speaking on the Glasgow is Green Podcast (GIGPOD), after breaking through at an early age becoming the club’s youngest ever goalscorer, Aitchison was left frustrated at his chances in the first-team and preferred to go out and play football, which is what he had tried to do for well over a year.
“For the last year, year and a half, I’d wanted out. I actually tried to get out before I went to Forest Green on loan. I believe everything happens for a reason and obviously, I went there and done well, which stood me in good stead for getting that move to Barnsley.
“It was obviously a bit of a difficult one. It was nearly the full lockdown that a deal was getting sorted. There was back and forth; it was a bit tough. I don’t think Celtic really wanted me to go, but I just tried to get out and play football.
“I didn’t see a pathway for me there. I was really frustrated, so I wanted to get out and get a fresh start somewhere new. Sometimes that’s what it takes.”
Making his debut was such a positive sign and to score a goal got peoples excitement up about Aitchison as a player.
However, he only featured in a handful of games under new boss Brendan Rodgers, also having loan spells at the likes of Dumbarton and Alloa.
Even when new boss Neil Lennon was given his second chance at the manager’s job, it felt like it could have the possibility of being a fresh slate for the 20-year old but he was once again loaned out, this time to Forest Green Rovers. The young striker completed his exit for the club last summer, joining Barnsley and currently finds himself out on loan at League 2 Stevenage
It is extremely frustrating to see the club lose academy players without them having much of a chance. Aitchison showed such promise in his early days and it would have been good to see him go on and have a successful career with the Hoops.
Ultimately, it wasn’t meant to be and he has shown great attitude to go out and play football at his age. But this isn’t the first time a youngster has exited the club and even if Aitchison didn’t have enough to make it at the club it would have been nice to see him given some sort of chance.
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