Brendan Rodgers may be furious with Celtic’s deadline day business – but he’ll never show it.
The manager made it clear he wanted a striker in at Parkhead to replace Kyogo who moved in January for £10million to Rennes.
The Japanese hitman had his reasons for looking for an exit as early as the end of last season but that gave the Hoops a head start for the January window to make their moves to land a new player for his spot.
Instead, Rodgers will have to go into the latter stages of the season with his squad lighter and only Adam Idah as the established, recognised forward within the ranks who has experience in both the Scottish Premiership and the Champions League.
It was a frustration for the fans who made their feelings known while Rodgers will undoubtedly be irked by a lack of movement from the board as well as his slow recruitment team.
Celtic failed in their January transfer window challenge
Asked if it was a mistake to sanction Kyogo‘s exit before nailing down a replacement, Rodgers accepted that is how it might look to some.
But, again, the Irishman pointed to the fact that Celtic will never keep a player at the club who does not want to be there.
And he reiterated that was Kyogo’s mindset as he sought a move away from Glasgow.
“Was it a mistake to allow Kyogo to go without having his placement nailed down and planned? Some people will say that,” Rodgers acknowledged.
“But you don’t have the depth of knowledge that I have on the player and working with him and going back to the summer.
“It’s a fair enough thing to say. You can very easily say, you should really have someone in the door before you let him go.
“But there was a situation with that player, which meant that wasn’t the case. That was something that had been running for a number of months, not just for the few days before he left.
“I repeat, if a player does not want to be here, then we do the best deal and move on.”
Replacing Kyogo was not easy for Celtic’s recruitment team
On the deadline day failure as a whole in terms of a frontman, Rodgers added: “We all know that we were losing a top-class striker and we wanted to bring in another one.
“Because it’s not just bringing in, it’s being able to then allow other players to go out to continue their development.
“So it’s two-fold really. But if it doesn’t happen, then we have to deal with that. And we have to understand going forward the way and how we can be better in that process.
“And then, like I say, develop the players that are currently here.”
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