Martin O’Neill has revealed that Hyunjun Yang will miss part of Celtic’s season as the South Korean was named as one of the three over-aged players in his country’s squad for the Under-23 Asian Games.
The winger is likely to miss the first Glasgow Derby of the season as Celtic take on Rangers at Parkhead on the 20th of September.
Yang enjoyed a much-improved season for Celtic last season and earned a new deal, but after it was revealed the winger could miss the crucial Rangers clash, O’Neill admitted he already knew that before the contract was signed.
How would you use Yang next season?
Celtic knew Yang could miss Rangers before contract extension
Speaking after Celtic’s draw with Shelbourne at Tolka Park, O’Neill admitted that Celtic were well aware that Yang could miss crucial Scottish Premiership fixtures when they extended his deal at the club.
O’Neill told The Scottish Sun, “He’s in there [Asian Games squad]. He’s got military duties and that type of stuff.
“We might have to miss him for a number of weeks but so be it. We knew that before we extended his contract.”
Being named in the squad means Yang will likely be exempt from completing his military duties but the Celtic winger will still be missing for a key period of the season.
New deal underlines Yang’s importance to Celtic
The fact Celtic still agreed to extend Yang’s contract until 2030 knowing he could miss part of next season speaks volumes for the winger’s status at the club now.
Yang was almost on his way out last summer as a move to Birmingham City was pulled by Celtic at the last minute.
An ever-present in O’Neill’s Celtic starting XI, the Hoops boss is a keen admirer of the South Korean attacker.
Celtic had every opportunity to delay Yang’s new deal until after the Asian Games. Instead, they committed to him until 2030 knowing he would be unavailable for part of the season.
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