Comment: Celtic interest in Brandon Barker shows just how valuable Martin Boyle is at Hibs

Martin Boyle outshone Brandon Barker when they were both at Hibs

While it is not unusual for Neil Lennon, the former Hibs manager and current boss at Parkhead, to turn to players who have previously served him well – see Efe Ambrose, Anthony Stokes and Kris Commons – Barker’s presence on a list of Celtic targets indirectly served to place the remarkable rise of Boyle into some form of context.

Barker generally did well under Lennon in his season-long loan at Easter Road from Manchester City in the 2017/18 campaign. Indeed, Hibs were widely deemed to be at their best that season when they had both Barker and Boyle operating on the flanks, simultaneously terrorising opponents and getting the team on the front foot.

Barker, whose spell at Hibs was slightly hindered by fitness issues, has played very little football since he left Edinburgh a year ago, starting only six league games on loan at Preston North End over the past season. So it is reasonable to surmise that Lennon’s desire to sign the 22-year-old for Celtic stems primarily from his spell at Easter Road.

For all that most Hibs fans would gladly take Barker back if the opportunity arose, few would choose him ahead of Boyle, who was generally a more consistent, more dangerous operator, even allowing for Barker’s injury woes. If the judgment of the Celtic manager is used as a barometer, then Boyle, playing at the level he was in the year or two leading up to his momentum-halting knee injury in December, would surely be capable of slotting into the champions’ squad.

While Hibs fans are salivating about welcoming Scott Allan who was completely frozen out at Celtic, Boyle’s return following the best part of five months on the sidelines could be the most significant development at Easter Road this summer. Prior to his injury, he had elevated himself to a level which would have been unthinkable to most when he first arrived as a raw and flaky speed merchant from Dundee four-and-a-half years ago.

Now boasting pace, power, consistency, end product and full caps for Australia, Boyle can be considered one of Hibs’ genuine big-hitters, having emerged from the shadows of former team-mates and headline-grabbers like John McGinn, Dylan McGeouch and Jason Cummings.

Along with playmaker Allan, Boyle will be the man supporters pin their hopes on this season to help the team rediscover the attacking verve which deserted them for much of last season.

That won’t be straightforward, of course, because Boyle will be coming back into the mix on the back of the most damaging injury of his career. Given his game is so reliant on his explosiveness, he will have to rediscover the confidence that his body is up to operating at full pelt in the heat of competition. Match sharpness will need to be honed. He will also have to re-establish himself under Paul Heckingbottom. “We have a new manager now and I’m chomping at the bit to show him what I can do,” Boyle said in March. “I want to prove I can fit into his system and get flying again.”

Until injury stopped him in his rampant tracks five months ago, Boyle’s stock had been consistently rising in his time at Hibs. The 26-year-old, having entered the illustrious world of international football within the past year, won’t be short of determination as he bids to get himself back on that upward curve in his peak years as a footballer.