Albion swooped to secure the services of Republic of Ireland international Mikey Johnston from Celtic on loan for the remainder of the season on deadline day.
The 24-year-old winger has been brought in to aid Carlos Corberán’s side’s push for the Sky Bet Championship play-offs.
Here are 10 things you may find interesting about our newest recruit.
Mikey was born in Glasgow on April 19, 1999. He joined Celtic’s academy at the age of nine and made his senior debut for the Scottish giants in a 4-1 victory over St Johnstone in May 2017, before going on to sign a new three-year-contract just minutes after the final whistle.
The deadline day signing scored his first goal for the Hoops six days before Christmas in 2018, notching Celtic’s final strike in a comfortable 3-0 home triumph over Motherwell. He followed that effort up by bagging a brace in their next game – another 3-0 win at Celtic Park over Dundee.
Johnston’s first goal in European competition came in a 3-1 victory in Bosnia & Herzegovina against FK Sarajevo in July 2019. The new Albion man scored Celtic’s first of the night in the first leg of their first round qualifying tie.
The 24-year-old represented Scotland at youth level. He was selected by the U21s for the 2018 Toulon Tournament, a tournament which Scotland finished fourth in after losing to Turkey on penalties in the third place play-off. Mikey produced an impressive individual showing and was voted as the third-best player of the competition. He was also named in the tournament XI.
After suffering a couple of injuries, Johnston headed out on loan for the 2022/23 campaign. The attacker joined Portuguese outfit Vitória de Guimarães and made over 25 appearances for them in Liga Portugal. He scored his first goal for the club in a 3-2 win at home to Famalicao on Monday, October 31 2022.
Mikey made 12 appearances in all competitions for Celtic in 2023/24 before joining Albion on loan, featuring in the Scottish Premiership, the Scottish FA Cup and the UEFA Champions League. His most recent strikes for the Celts came on Boxing Day, bagging twice in the 3-0 victory at Dundee.
He has seven major honours to his name, helping Celtic win the title in 2018/19, 2019/20 and 2021/22. The winger has also won the Scottish Cup twice in 2018/19 and 2019/20, as well as the Scottish League Cup twice in 2019/20 and 2021/22.
Despite representing Scotland at youth level, Johnston has been capped eight times by the Republic of Ireland. He is eligible to play for the Boys In Green through his Grandfather. He made his senior international debut on March 22 2023, coming on in the second half of Ireland’s 3-2 victory over Latvia at the Aviva Stadium.
Mikey has scored two international goals for the Republic of Ireland, with both coming against Gibraltar in two separate matches in UEFA EURO 2024 qualifying. His first was at the Aviva Stadium in June in a 3-0 win, while his second arrived at Estadio Algarve, Portugal, in a 4-0 success.
The new Baggie will wear the number 23 shirt during his loan spell at The Hawthorns.
