Alistair Johnston has a sporting background outside of football which makes him an ideal player for Celtic.

This is according to his former head coach Patrice Ghiesar who was in charge of the player at his first senior team, Vaughan Soccer Club.

From there the 24-year-old moved to Nashville in 2019 and then to CF Montreal after that.

In the season that has just finished, the Canadian international scored four times and provided four assists in 39 games.

He has been heavily linked with the Scottish champions since the beginning of the World Cup and his former boss is not surprised at the interest in him.

Speaking to the Daily Record, he said: "We started the high-performance programme - what you would call the reserve team - around 14 years ago and it's grown to be one of the most successful programmes in Canada.

"We continue to produce numerous players and Kamal Miller also comes from our academy.

"I don't know if Alistair quite gets the love that is behind the game in Europe but it will be exciting for him to embark upon it.

"Once he gets there, he will be a little bit surprised but not much. He gets it, the game means a lot to him and his family.

"He'll be fine adjusting. He was with us at a younger age. The 1998 age group didn't really have a team as some had quit soccer.

"I worked with his dad and he said he wasn't getting proper treatment and training, so we moved him over to us.

"We moved him up to play with the 1997 group and he really progressed playing with older boys."

This quick rise was twinned with a cross-country career, which allowed him to be first deployed as a central midfielder due to his fitness and athleticism.

These are traits that could suit Postecoglou's style of play given his tendency for the tactics to include the use of inverted fullbacks.

And Ghiesar feels this aspect could certainly be an advantage for Johnston.

"He was a cross-country runner so we played him in midfield because he could run for days," he continued.

"He was athletic but he was a wiry, skinny kid. He was a really good cross-country runner for his high school team and that's not easy.

"It is a difficult sport and it challenges his mind, but that's who he is - hard-working, driven and committed.

"It gave him a great base for this sport. We played him in a number of midfield positions but tried him at full-back one day and he has never looked back.

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