Super Eagles Star Will Excel At Celtic, Former Sunderland Hero Phillips Predicts

There will be a lot of goals from Josh Maja should the Bordeaux striker decide to swap France for Scotland, says former Premier League star Kevin Phillips.

Just over a year after dumping League One outfit Sunderland for the French Ligue 1, Nigerian forward Maja is yet again attracting interests from top clubs on the continent. 

Maja has been far from being a sensation in France with the 21-year-old struggling to lock down a regular starting spot in Les Girondins’ first team.

But he has shown that he’s a deadly finisher in the opponent’s penalty area after finding the back of the net eight times in just eight starts across all competitions.

There have been talks of the youngster returning to England with Crystal Palace among his known Premier League admirers.

AC Milan are also believed to be interested in taking him to Italy as a replacement for the departing Zlatan Ibrahimović.

However, Scottish champions Celtic have recently emerged as a leading candidate for the signature of the Super Eagles ace.

The Bhoys are preparing for the imminent departure of star forward Odsonne Edouard, with Maja and West Brom striker Charlie Austin two of the names being considered to replace him.

Former Sunderland man Phillips, though, agrees that both strikers would be prolific for Celtic but reckons that Maja offers the better option because of his sell-on value.

“Josh Maja showed at Sunderland what a good player he was and took the easy option, in terms of the cash, to go where he went. Now the kid needs to come and play football,” Phillips told Football Insider.

“I think Charlie would score a lot of goals up there, and that would go for Maja as well.

“Maja is a younger player with the potential of making a profit in the future. They have a track record of developing players and selling them on.

“If Maja has the chance to go to Celtic, I think he would take it.”