The 24-year-old had made over 90 appearances since making his debut in 2017, but he never really established himself as a regular at Parkhead after coming up through the ranks with the Glasgow giants.
It was determined in January that Johnston would temporarily move to The Hawthorns due to his limited playing time in the current campaign, and the arrangement has gone extremely well thus far.
With his outstanding individual strike in Friday night’s 2-1 victory over Coventry City, the Ireland international maintained his excellent run and increased his total to three goals in just seven Baggies outings.
Pundit talks about the future of Mike Johnston
Since his transfer, Johnston’s play has solidified his place in the hearts of Albion supporters, who will be hoping the team will do everything in its power to retain him in the long run.
Although Johnston is a tremendous potential, ex-Celtic player turned pundit McAvennie told Football Insider that he expects the Scottish champions to let him go permanently during the transfer window.
“He has no intention of returning to Celtic. He can score that much in Scotland, but my god, he scored three goals [for West Brom]. Against Dundee, he scored two goals, and suddenly, he was the greatest thing since toast! It was amazing.
Despite his years of Celtic experience, he was never included in the team. The boy’s talent is undeniable. However, he is not encouraged by the environment or what motivates others at Celtic when it comes to his performance. He retreats into himself. Mickey doesn’t thrive on that, but I do. The Championship is a terrific level for him because he is a really talented player.
Plans for West Brom’s summer transfers
Since Shilen Patel has finished his takeover, Carlos Corberan hopes that his options in the market will be more limited than they have been in recent windows.
Their summer intentions will obviously depend on whichever league the team is in, but if they stay in the Championship, a long-term signing of Johnston will undoubtedly be their top aim.
Since his arrival, he has been exceptional, and his goal last night was just one more example of his talent as he easily defeated his full-back and then showed his ability to curl in.
He couldn’t do that regularly at Celtic, where players are under a lot of pressure, for whatever reason, as McAvennie explained. He appears to be having fun at Albion, though.
It would be surprising if Celtic didn’t approve a trade, although a fee would need to be negotiated in the summer before his contract expires in 2026.
This is one to keep an eye on throughout the summer, even if Johnston’s primary concern right now is supporting Albion in their quest for promotion. After the season is done, he will assess his options.
