Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers is “a fan” of Manchester City midfielder Tommy Doyle and would be keen on bringing the England Under 21 international to Parkhead, according to The Scottish Sun.

The 21-year-old is not expected to be part of the Premier League champions’ first-team plans this season, having spent last campaign out on loan at Sheffield United.

Doyle played a key role in helping the Blades to promotion from the Championship, scoring 3 goals and providing 4 assists in 33 league appearances.

There are other teams, including Wolves, who are said to be interested in the player but they wouldn’t necessarily be able to give him guarantees about game time.

Celtic are currently in the same position, and they may only make a concerted effort to snap up Doyle if a midfielder is sold before the transfer window closes.

Rodgers has eight central midfielders at his disposal

The Celtic boss started captain Callum McGregor, Matt O’Riley and (somewhat surprisingly) David Turnbull in his three-man midfield against Ross County at the weekend.

However, there were four other midfielders on the bench, including Reo Hatate, Tomoki Iwata, Kwon Hyeok-Kyu and Odin Thiago Holm. With James McCarthy also not making the squad, it’s hard to see why Doyle would be recruited as well, unless there are major concerns that someone will leave.

Celtic may consider a loan offer

The Sun report that the Scottish champions could well target Doyle on loan, rather than trying to secure his services on a permanent basis.

Considering the club do have a very strong relationship with Manchester City due to previous dealings, negotiations over a temporary move would probably be pretty straightforward.

At the moment, though, it doesn’t appear that talks are imminent and there is still a possibility that Doyle will be snapped up by another team before the end of the month.