There was some chatter in Celtic circles on Tuesday when James McCarthy wasn’t included in an official team photograph.
It was the club’s ‘2023/24 team photo’ that was plastered on social media, with 33 players staring at the camera alongside Brendan Rodgers and John Kennedy. (Celtic)
Included were fringe players like Yuki Kobayashi and Hyeokkyu Kwon, as well as potential stars of the future Rocco Vata and Daniel Kelly.
The only notable absentee from the image was former Republic of Ireland midfielder McCarthy. Given that he’s still featured on the club’s official website and hasn’t been announced as a signing by another club, it was a little puzzling that he wasn’t involved.
His omission from the photo has some wondering whether he has actually already departed the club. Is McCarthy still training regularly at Lennoxtown in some capacity? Or does the photo tell us that he’s no longer there?
Whatever the case, it’s an unclear situation. While McCarthy won’t ever feature in Rodgers’ first team, it would still be nice to know what his status is.
Just last month, we ran some quotes from Rodgers on McCarthy. They offer a good indication of how things were at that stage.
“Sadly for James, a few injuries and a few niggles have curtailed his time here, so he will be looking to move on,” Rodgers said. “But he’s a great guy. He trained really well with the group when I first came in here and I’ve had a couple of really good conversations with him, but he’ll be looking to move on.
“I think there has been interest, and I know that his agent has been talking to the club to see if we can find a compromise for him.”
Perhaps McCarthy finds himself in a state of limbo right now. Like Ismaila Soro and Albian Ajeti this summer, he has maybe been told not to report for training while he tries to find a new club. He is certainly not in Rodgers’ plans judging from those quotes.
The difference between McCarthy and the aforementioned two is that they now have new employers for the season. The former Crystal Palace man doesn’t appear to.
With the best part of two campaigns still to run on his four-year contract, it would be nice to have an official resolution. Perhaps it’s coming.
In other news, the obvious Celtic loan candidate after Duncan Ferguson talks take place
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