20-year-old Francis, who is a Northern Ireland U21 international, signed a four year deal with parent club Celtic in the summer of 2024 – and has already made his debut for the Hoops, against St Mirren in 2024 as a teenager.

Initially joining the club after catching the eye of scouts during his time with Glentoran, the midfielder made the move to Glasgow in the summer of 2022.

After spending a year with Celtic’s Under-18s, which also saw him play a part in lifting the Scottish Youth Cup at Hampden Park, he made the step-up to the B team – and has more than 70 games in the Lowland League under his belt.

Francis has been training with Martin O’Neill’s first-team squad regularly for the past two seasons – featuring in friendly matches – and spent the second-half of last season on loan at Ayr United in the Championship.

Boss Frank McKeown said: “Francis is a very creative midfielder who is rated very highly at Celtic so we’re delighted to bring him to the club. He’s a player who likes to create chances and score goals and we know our fans will enjoy watching him.

“This season he’s spent a lot of time training with Celtic’s first-team and on the fringes of their squad, but they’ve decided it would be best for his development if he got the experience of first team football every week in the SPFL. And we’re delighted to be trusted with helping him at the next stage of his career.

“My thanks goes to everyone at Celtic, as well as everyone here at Dumbarton, who worked right up until the last minute to get this deal over the line. We’re looking forward to working with Francis over the coming months.”