Scott Brown 2.0: Celtic could sign £4m star with "world-class" potential
da bwin： Even though this season is not yet over, with Celtic featuring in Saturday’s Scottish Cup final at Hampden, attention has already turned towards what will be a crucial summer in Glasgow’s East End.
da dobrowin： Brendan Rodgers is demanding a busy transfer window, looking to bolster his squad, and he will want all business to be done quickly, with a crucial Champions League qualifier in the diary for the end of August.
Given that the Hoops’ potential opponents in that two-legged tie include Bodø/Glimt, Basel, Dinamo Zagreb, Dynamo Kyiv, København, Crvena zvezda, Malmö, Qarabağ, Ferencváros and others, with their seeding still to be determined, it’s unlikely to be straightforward.
So, could Celtic land their next Scott Brown in a bid to help?
Scott Brown's Celtic legacy
The word legend is often bandied around with great frequency in football, but Scott Brown is unquestionably a bona fide Celtic legend.
The table below underlines his astonishing career in hoops.
Scott Brown’s Celtic career in numbers
Career span
2007-2021
Appearances
615
Starts
585
Goals
46
European appearances
127
Premiership titles
10
Scottish Cups
6
League Cups
6
All stats courtesy of Transfermarkt
Brown’s tally of 615 appearances means he ranks seventh on the club’s all-time list, behind only Billy McNeill, Alec McNair, Paul McStay, Roy Aitken, Danny McGrain and Pat Bonner, all greats in their own right, making the most appearances for the club in European competition, surpassing Kenny Dalglish’s record back in 2017.
Brown joined Celtic from Hibernian for a reported fee of £4.4m back in 2007, a then-record between two Scottish clubs, so could the Premiership champions secure a similar deal 18 years on?
Celtic targeting Scott Brown 2.0
Scott Burns of the Daily Record reported last month that Celtic will attempt to sign Motherwell midfielder Lennon Miller this summer, describing the Hoops as ‘long-term admirers’, claiming that the 18-year-old is valued at £4m by the Steelmen.
The teenager has been named Young Player of the Year by the Scottish Football Writers Association, following a breakout season at Fir Park, with Motherwell boss Michael Wimmer admitting this week that his star man is likely to leave the club this summer.
Both Rangers and Celtic are perennially linked with a move for Miller, while Borussia Dortmund, Eintracht Frankfurt, Wolfsburg, Werder Bremen, Udinese and Royale Union Saint-Gilloise are amongst those listed as ‘interested’.
So what is all the hype about? Well, there’s certainly some comparisons to be made with the aforementioned Brown, not least because he’d be arriving from another SPFL club, but because they’re both sensational midfielder talents.
Indeed, analyst Ben Mattinson believes Miller has the potential to become a “world-class midfielder”, while Samuel Hutchinson of Total Football Analysis describes him as ‘one of Europe’s most promising talents’, praising his ‘physical strength’ but also his technical ability.
As for a further indication of his potential, Scottish football reporter Kai Watson has outlines how the 18-year-old is able to ‘control games from the midfield’ as both a deep lying playmaker or as a number ten, noting that he is never ‘bullied off of the ball’ making him ‘press resistant’ and the complete all-rounder. In his ability to never be bullied, there are certainly echoes of Brown right there.
As the numbers below outline, Miller ranks highly for pretty much every metric included, which is very impressive for a teenager.
Lennon Miller’s Premiership statistics 2024/25
Statistics
Miller
Premiership rank
Appearances
32
56th
Starts
32
16th
Minutes
2,798
20th
Goals
2
95th
Assists
8
5th
Big chances created
12
7th
Shots
46
31st
Accurate passes per 90
27.5
38th
Key passes per 90
1.6
13th
Was fouled
71
1st
Crosses
129
15th
Interceptions
39
19th
Average SofaScore rating
7.26
11th
All statistics courtesy of FBref.com and SofaScore
Most notably, he was the most fouled player in the Premiership this season, while his assists and big chances created numbers are also worth highlighting.
What is clear is that Miller is a generational Scottish talent, just as Brown was almost two decades ago, so Celtic should do everything in their power to convince him to stay in Scotland and move to Parkhead.
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