Dara O'Shea Celtic transfer Q&A as Burnley expert assesses Champions League and Premiership suitability

Brendan Rodgers wants Celtic to sign proven players who can boost their XI and help in the Champions League. So it's no surprise to see them linked with an international who has Premier League experience.

The Hoops have an interest in Burnley defender Dara O'Shea, who has 26 caps for the Republic of Ireland, and have reportedly already made contact with the English Championship side. Any deal won't be cheap one though as the Clarets paid £7million to sign the 25-year-old just last year.

With Burnley still without a manager after Vincent Kompany's departure to Bayern Munich they won't be in a rush to make any decision on selling either, meaning Rodgers and his club may have to play a waiting game. It will still be one that intrigues Celtic fans though with the prospect of signing a defender of that calibre.

So, Football Scotland has enlisted the help of Burnley expert Will Lancaster of GiveMeSport to take a look at the potential transfer and how good a fit would it be. Below is our full Q&A.

How would you describe Dara O’Shea as a player and how is he thought of by the Burnley support?

O'Shea is your typical sturdy, committed and 'wears his heart on his sleeve' defender. He started off quite poorly at the start of the Premier League season, but that wasn't uncommon for the majority of the squad after yet another rebuild and by the time the team gelled, survival was all but a pipe dream that would have been realised sooner if not for points deductions for Everton and Nottingham Forest. O'Shea did take a few pelters at the start of the season, but he certainly grew into the team and by the end of the season, he was seen as one of the more consistent players in the Burnley ranks and is now well received by fans at Turf Moor.

He’s only been a Burnley player for a short time, and they were obviously relegated, but how did he perform individually/fare in the Premier League?

As aforementioned, O'Shea did struggle with the pace, tenacity and overall abundance of quality of other players when he first joined, but after getting to grips with how Vincent Kompany wanted to play, he was undoubtedly one of the better players in the side towards the end of the season. His passing might not be at the level of other centre-backs in the team such as Maxime Esteve and Jordan Beyer, but what he lacks on the floor, he certainly makes up for in the air and in actual defending. He went almost four months without missing a game and did manage three goals throughout the season - against Liverpool, Chelsea and Newcastle - so the calibre of opponents he's been scoring against shows he's not overawed by big challenges.

It’s understood he’s still seen as a key figure for the Clarets, how big a blow would it be to lose him ahead of the Championship season?

Losing O'Shea would be a huge blow ahead of the Championship season. He showed that he's more than capable in the second-tier throughout his time at West Bromwich Albion in recent seasons prior to his departure, and with Beyer and Esteve being linked with other clubs, you'd think one of the two will leave. Experience in the Championship is such a big intangible and O'Shea's departure would arguably be tougher to take than Beyer and Esteve leaving - despite having a lower ceiling on paper.

What have you made of Celtic’s interest in him and could you see it happening?

O'Shea and Celtic would be a good fit, without doubt. He's a physical player and sometimes we've seen Liam Scales and Gustaf Lagerbielke fail to fully convince Hoops fans that they can handle the 'brutish' nature of the Scottish Premiership. He's much more similar to Cameron Carter-Vickers in that respect and I do think the two would go hand-in-hand should O'Shea move to Parkhead. That being said, Burnley paid £7million for his services from West Brom and with three years left on his contract, it's highly unlikely the board would sell him for cheaper than we got him for. It begs the question - would Celtic break their transfer record to sign a 25-year-old defender, and even be able to match O'Shea's wages that he agreed upon in the Premier League? Probably not, you'd feel.

Could you see O’Shea being a success at Celtic if it were to go through? Could he cope with the Champions League, for example?

Having had a year's experience against some of the best attackers in the world in the Premier League - Erling Haaland, Alexander Isak, Mohamed Salah and Cole Palmer to name but a few - you'd probably say that O'Shea would be less overawed by the Champions League than some of Celtic's other players. He can make stupid mistakes sometimes and I wouldn't entirely back him to be confident on the ball against big sides, even under the lights at Parkhead. But for a team that would be under the cosh against the bigger teams, he certainly knows how to organise a defence and clear his lines. I'd go as far to say that he would almost have the same effect that Carter-Vickers has had at Celtic, perhaps not quite as good as the American international if you had to choose.

Where would you see him fitting into Celtic's defence and would he instantly improve their back line? He’s right-footed but could he comfortably play the left-sided centre back role?

O'Shea has played the right-sided centre-back role for Burnley, but that is only due to Esteve being a real ball-playing centre-back who is left footed - in short, he hasn't had the chance to show what he can do on the left side. Again, Carter-Vickers is probably more adept with his feet and I'd be inclined to move him to the left but again - and with all due respect to Scottish teams - the quality in drop-off from the majority of the Premier League is vast and so with more time afforded to him, O'Shea could excel in that role. You only have to watch his assist against Wolves in April at Turf Moor to realise that O'Shea does have an eye for a pass - perhaps it was just Burnley being under the cosh all season that limited him from doing so!