Seventeen-year-old centre-back Dylan Leonard is quickly making a name for himself in Australia with Western United in the Isuzu UTE A-League. After becoming the youngest ever to debut in the competition, Leonard has gone on to make 24 appearances in his breakthrough campaign.
But it’s not just domestic success that’s driving the teenager—Leonard has his sights set on Celtic, with two former Hoops stars, Kristoffer Ajer and Paul McStay, inspiring him.
He said: (A Leagues 20), “I watch a lot of Celtic certain players like Kristoffer Ajer when he was at Celtic and the way he used to drive in.
“That’s something I took out of his game, and I wanted to implement that into my own game, like being a centre-back, that when team step back, can step in and can play forward, can change the game.
“He [Leonard’s dad] used to talk a lot about Paul McStay as well. He would play forward rather than keeping the ball and playing safe, certain players can change games by their ability to play forward. So that was something, even as a centre-back, I’ve tried to put into my own game.
“That’s probably one thing I want to achieve in football is play for Celtic.
“Win something with Celtic obviously, but that’s definitely the one thing I want to do, the one club I want to play for.”
Celtic already have strong centre-back options in Cameron Carter-Vickers, Liam Scales, Auston Trusty, and Maik Nawrocki, so Leonard would face tough competition if he ever joined.
But his desire to play for the club, and the influence of past Celtic stars, shows he understands what it means to be a Celtic player—even without having worn the shirt yet.
Leonard is still young and developing, so any move to Celtic would likely be one for the future. But with Celtic already signing players from the A-League, like Marco Tilio and Tom Rogic, it’s clear the club is open to talent from Australia.
For now, Leonard is focused on improving at Western United. But if he keeps progressing and Celtic show interest, he’s made it clear where he wants to be —and fans would surely welcome a player who already gets what Celtic is all about.
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