SEAD HAKSABANOVIC has kick-started the Celtic clear-out with the winger’s move to Malmo during the week.
Chicago Red Stars’ Mallory Swanson shows off silky skills…
Brendan Rodgers will continue to streamline his squad with new faces targeted to strengthen the champions on the domestic and European fronts in the upcoming season.
To make way for the recruits, there will be a few heading for the Parkhead exit.
CQN today examines the position and makes a prediction of ten who will be moving on before the transfer window closes on August 30.
HOOP HOOP HOORAY…Mikey Johnston celebrates one of his double in the 3-0 win over Dundee at Dens Park on Boxing Day.
Here is our list:
MIKEY JOHNSTON
It’s make-your-mind-up-time for the 25-year-old winger who was introduced to the top side by first time-around Rodgers in May 2017.
Injuries have hindered the progress of the Glasgow-born Republic of Ireland wide Bhoy and he spent the second half of last season at West Brom.
The previous term, he had played the entire campaign at Portuguese top-flight side Vitoria Guimaraes, but there was no move to make the switch permanent.
Johnston, with two years to run on his contract, returned to the champions after scoring seven goals in 20 appearances for the Midlands outfit.
The Championship club are now pondering a bid to take the tricky flanker back to the Hawthorns on a permanent basis.
OH HYEON-GYU
All indications are that the South Korean’s one-and-a-half year stay at Parkhead is coming to an end with the 23-year-old international figuring in summer transfer speculation.
The striker was signed for £2million from K-League outfit Suwon Bluewings on a five-year contract by Ange Postecoglou in January 2022, but made only three league starts in his 20 appearances last term.
Oh claimed a meagre five goals to add to six in his debut crusade – and appears to have failed to impress Rodgers.
Belgian side Genk have been linked with the frontman and a transfer could be imminent.
GUSTAF LAGERBIELKE
The rarely-seen Swedish international centre-back arrived in a £3million switch from Elfsborg in the summer of 2023 and seemed a natural successor to compatriot Carl Starfelt as he prepared for life in La Liga with Celta Vigo.
An early injury and a dismissal against Feyenoord in the 2-0 opening-day Champions League loss in September marred his early days at Parkhead.
With the advent of Liam Scales as partner to Cameron Carter-Vickers in the middle of the rearguard, Lagerbielke’s opportunities were limited.
The 24-year-old defender, under contract until June 2028, made 10 appearances and scored one goal – ironically the winner against Feyenoord as he took personal revenge for his red card in Rotterdam.
That could remain the highlight of Lagerbielke’s brief stay in the east end of Glasgow.
MAKING A POINT…Benji Siegrist in a rare first-team outing.
BENJI SIEGRIST
The Swiss-born netminder was frozen out last season with Joe Hart the main man and Scott Bain as the back-up keeper.
The six-foot plus custodian, who signed a four-year deal when he arrived as a free agent after leaving Dundee United in July 2022, has yet to figure for the Hoops in the Premiership, appears to have interests outside football which have commandeered his attention.
With ex-England No.1 Hart retiring, Rodgers is now searching for TWO new last lines of defence with 32-year-old Siegrist’s days almost certainly numbered.
KWON HYEOK-KYU
The defensive midfielder, an £850,000 purchase from Busan IPark last summer, made a second-half appearance in James Forrest’s Testimonial Match against Athletic Bilbao at the beginning of August.
That was the 23-year-old South Korean’s solitary outing as he had to be content with a handful of games on the substitutes’ bench before his January loan switch to St Mirren.
Kwon, whose Hoops deal runs until the summer of 2028, impressed gaffer Stephen Robinson before injury sidelined him just before the end of season.
Is there any hope of first-team appearances at the champions next term? It’s more likely the player will be heading back to Paisley for a second temporary stint.
LIAM SHAW
The 23-year-old midfield anchorman joined as a free agent from Sheffield Wednesday just before Ange Postecoglou arrived as Neil Lennon’s long-term successor in the summer of 2021.
Shaw played in the 3-2 win over Real Betis in the Champions League at Parkhead in December that year before being loaned to Morecambe.
The defensive middle-of-the-park operator was also moved to Motherwell before spending last season at third-tier Wigan.
Shaw has another year of his Hoops contract to run. It will be a surprise if he sees out the remaining 12 months at Parkhead.
ON THE MOVE…Yuki Kobayashi’s days at Celtic appear to be numbered.
YUKI KOBAYASHI
Another of Celtic’s forgotten men, the Japanese central defender didn’t get a look-in last season.
The 23-year-old stylish left-sided performer arrived at the end of his Vissel Kobe contract in January 2023 and big things were anticipated from the elegant Kobayashi.
The player, whose deal runs until June 2028, showed promise in his early appearances, but worrying displays in the 3-0 loss at Ibrox and 4-2 defeat at Easter – admittedly after the title had been won – saw him drop out of the reckoning and didn’t even make the nine-man stand-by squad for the Scottish Cup Final against Inverness Caley Thistle.
The Hoops scuppered a nine-month loan deal with J-League outfit Kashima Antlers in January while HJK Helsinki eyed the centre-back. He was also linked with Harry Kewell’s Yokohama F Marinos and MLS clubs Real Salt Lake and Dallas.
If there is revived interest in Kobayashi – and the price is right – it’s unlikely Rodgers will stand in his way this time around.
JOHNNY KENNY
The nippy striker arrived from Sligo Rovers in January 2022 and was eclipsed by the dramatic swoop for J-League trio Reo Hatate, Daizen Maeda and Yosuke Ideguchi and the £1.5million recruitment of Matt O’Riley from third-tier MK Dons.
The 21-year-old frontman, who showed a lot of potential in his homeland, has failed to figure at Parkhead.
Kenny has spent time on loan at Queen’s Park and Shamrock Rovers and still has two years to run on his deal at the champions.
Look for another temporary transfer in the summer.
LOST BHOY…James McCarthy in action against St Johnstone in Perth in October 2022, his last first-team appearance.
JAMES McCARTHY
The former Republic of international is literally out of the picture at Celtic.
The 33-year-old midfielder failed to be included in the official team photo last season and didn’t figure in a first-team squad.
Unless there is a seismic change in his career, McCarthy’s last appearance in the top side will remain as a second-half substitute in the 2-1 win over St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park on October 8 2022.
The former Hamilton Accies, Wigan, Everton and Crystal Palace star joined his boyhood idols in August 2021 when his terms at the Selhurst Park outfit expired.
McCarthy, who still has a year to run on his Parkhead contract, came close to joining Greek top-flight outfit Volos on loan in January only for the switch to fall through with the club failing to agree to pick up the required percentage of the player’s wages.
It’s clear, however, the defensive midfielder is on borrowed time at the champions.
ALEXANDRO BERNABEI
The attack-minded left-back arrived in a £3.75million move from Argentinian outfit Lanus in July 2022, but was unable to dislodge Greg Taylor from the No.3 slot.
The 23-year-old defender, who has three years to run on his Hoops contract, was allowed to sign a loan deal with Brazilian side Internacional in January which will keep him at the South American team until December.
Boss Rodgers did not have cover for Taylor, but still gave the switch the green light.
Don’t hold your breath on Bernabei returning.
