Christopher Scott scouted for Celtic: Transfer target with aggressive passing and an eye for goal

Background & physical profile

Scott is a 5ft10, 19-year-old, right-footed German youth international who primarily plays as an attacking midfielder on the left side of the pitch.

He has also picked up experience in every role across the front three and in the middle of the park from playing at the base of midfield to centre forward. This development has allowed him to build up a strong set of skills that he can now utilise in his favoured role. He has represented Germany so far at every youth level from under-15s to under-20s, showing that he has consistently been in the eye of the national team setup throughout his career so far.

He was developed in the successful Bayer Leverkusen academy, joining their under-17 setup from the youth system back in 2017 at the age of just 15.

Over the next two seasons, the young German would continue to develop until making the jump to under-19s football at 17. After only a handful of games for the under-19s, Bayern Munich came calling and signed Scott in January 2020.

Having played only a few games for Bayern’s under-19s, Scott was again promoted - this time to the Bayern Munich II side in the fourth tier of German football. In July last year, Scott made his debut for the Bayern first team at 19 years old, playing in two pre-season friendlies.

However, Scott is a player that clearly knows that to develop his game, he needs first-team minutes on the park and that Bayern aren’t going to be able to offer that anytime soon. Celtic and Brentford have reportedly declared an interest in the player as a result, with Scott's June contract expiry further fuelling the chances of a move. 

Celtic, it must be said, would be in a much better position to offer minutes to the young German than the Premier League side which could put Ange Postecoglou's men at the front of the queue for the talented youngster's signature.

Historic Output

Scott has been fairly consistent in his goals return at youth levels. He just about always outperforms his xG, indicating that he is a strong finisher. His only real dip was when he moved to Bayern in his first season as he adapted to his new side and a stronger league. In the latest season, his strong finishing ability can be seen again despite the xG remaining fairly consistent.

Creatively, Scott hasn’t offered huge amounts and is perhaps more similar to Reo Hatate in these metrics in terms of being a raw talent. When in more attacking roles and in midfield he tends to play inverted, which might limit his opportunities to create when out wide.

Heat Map

Shown below is the action map of Scott from this season. He primarily likes to pick up positions in the half-space on either side. We have seen this at Celtic from the current attacking midfielders this season, especially when the team is attacking. This approach can help pull centre-backs out wide and create gaps in low blocks to be exploited.

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Scott can also collect deep and carry with good dribbling and controls the ball well with both feet. He is quite physical for his age and has clearly benefitted from playing in a league against adults, being able to use his body strength and positioning to protect the ball.

Radars

Scott is shown here through custom-built central midfielder radar templates. These are offensive, on the ball and defensive to give an overall view of his game. Data limits are taken from the Scottish Premiership with outliers manually removed for a clearer view.

Offensively is where Scott shines, with a large amount of successful attacking action, xG, shots and touches in the box per 90 minutes. He is always a threat, regardless of which side he plays on. He is good with both feet, which he uses to his advantage in dribbling and beating opponents to move his side forward or indeed to generate opportunities for himself.

With his shot map (above) it’s easy to see his youth and lack of discipline, with far too many shots from distance and poor angles. However, if optimised by a good coach like Postecoglou, this wastefulness could easily be removed from his game. The highlighted red central area is where we normally see high xG opportunities - and it is the area where all his goals come from. If at Celtic, his coaches would want to prioritise shooting from this area to increase his effectiveness.

Scott has a wide range of passing at his disposal and can use the ball quickly. This would suit the 8/10 role in Postecoglou's system quite well as he is able to play vertical quickly with accuracy as well as drive the ball forward via dribbling.

For his age and positioning Scott has a high defensive duel win rate of over 60 per cent and is involved in nearly seven successful defensive actions per 90. This is just below Matt O’Riley’s 7.5 so far at Celtic. He looks defensively to be a similar mould to O’Riley, with good physicality and timing of his tackles.

Conclusion

Overall, this move would be a low-risk investment from Celtic on a player that has been seen all throughout his youth as a top prospect.

Similar to O’Riley, he has expressed huge interest in getting minutes on the pitch suggesting he is smart enough to prioritise his own development.

His metrics suggest suitability to the system Celtic currently play and his acquisition would help add to the squad depth required in the central attacking areas.

Postecoglou has always given youth a chance throughout his career and Scott would be wise to take that on board when deciding where he goes if he wants first-team football.