Newcastle United tipped to join Celtic in heated transfer battle to land rising starlet

Newcastle United are believed to be leading the charge to sign Scottish Premiership wonderkid Lennon Miller in January after his excellent start to the campaign.

The 18-year-old central midfielder has been Motherwell’s standout performer, with an impressive four goals and four assists in his 19 appearances across all competitions this term. Miller is a box-to-box midfielder that has been heavily praised at Fir Park for his tireless work rate, composure in possession and his ability to create goal-scoring opportunities for his teammates.

He was among the nominees for the SFWA Young Player of the Year award and the PFA Scotland Young Player of the Award last season after a strong campaign for the The Steelmen, who were able to fend off the threat of relegation. Motherwell boss Stuart Kettlewell said: “He is a player who has been brilliant and massively consistent for me over the last 18 months and he’s only 18, he has shown great maturity, worn the captain’s armband and that’s all we can control at this stage.”

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TBR Football understands that Newcastle, Manchester United and Leeds United have all sent scouts to watch the player in action on several occasions this season.

Ex-Middlesbrough defender Andy Halliday has already claimed that Miller is better than Scottish international Billy Gilmour, who was heavily linked with a move to St James’ Park earlier in his career.

While it is also widely reported that the Scotland Under-19 captain is on the verge of receiving his first senior international call-up for Scotland under former Newcastle assistant Steve Clarke. Newcastle have built up a fine reputation for developing young players in recent years, with the likes of Tino Livramento, Anthony Gordon and Lewis Hall all making their England debuts within 18 months of signing for the Magpies.

Eddie Howe and his recruitment team are believed to be heavily focused on acquiring the best young stars as early as possible and have already added a number of potential prospects such as Miodrag Pivas, Rory Finneran, William Osula and Vakhtang Salia under Paul Mitchell since his arrival as sporting director.

Scottish champions Celtic are also heavily interested in bringing Lennon to Parkhead in January as they aim to build further squad depth to cope with the demands of a challenging Premiership campaign and European commitments.