CELTIC are on the verge of signing Brandywell cult hero Paddy McCourt from Derry City for £150,000 today Former Northern Ireland manager Sammy McIlroy believes Celtic would be the ideal place for Pat McCourt to relaunch his career.

"It could be a good move for him if he does go to Celtic. "It depends on the boy's attitude but Celtic could be the kick-start he needs"

He has been described by Rochdale fans as "unbelievably brilliant, or frustratingly under-achieving".

The Derry winger, 24, is set to hold talks with the Scottish champions as Gordon Strachan begins strengthening his squad. McCourt attracted the attention of top English clubs as a youngster at Rochdale but a combination of injury and loss of form saw him fail to fulfil his potential.

"Gordon Strachan is at Celtic and hopefully he can get him playing to his strengths again," McIlroy, who gave McCourt his international debut at 18, told PA Sport.

McCourt made his debut for Northern Ireland in a 5-0 defeat against Spain at Windsor Park in 2002. He was also linked with a move to Manchester City during his spell at Rochdale.

McIlroy said: "I had him as a young boy and, when he played at Rochdale, you could see the ability and skill that he had straight away.

"It was a matter of sticking at it and I was shocked that he didn't kick on, to be honest.

"I put him into the national team at a time when we had a lot of injuries and he was also in the Rochdale first team at a young age. People were talking about him going on to become a big international player at that time. Maybe it all just came too soon for him.