Celtic essentially knew for a year that they would have to replace Kyogo.
The Japanese striker told the club he wanted to leave at the end of last season and that would surely have put the Hoops on red alert in their hunt for a replacement.
Mathias Kvistgaarden was an option, Louie Barry was bid for and Kelechi Iheanacho was a late loan target who ultimately chose to join Middlesbrough instead.
Brendan Rodgers always did say a striker was on the wishlist and not only did he remind the boardroom that it was firepower he craved but he constantly told the fanbase that was what he wanted.
Jeffrey Schlupp was the only deadline day signing at left-back but he can play further forward.
- READ MORE: Europa Conference League club set to make late transfer deadline day loan bid for Celtic youngster
Celtic signed Jeffrey Schlupp on deadline day but no striker
Yet an out-and-out striker was not brought in.
The manager said over and over again that he wanted to strengthen the team.
He wanted his squad to be stronger at the end of the window than it was at the beginning.
But can that really be said of the current crop of Celtic stars in the building now?
Jota makes the club purr and is an excellent signing who has had punters buzzing at his comeback.
Schlupp might also be a player if given a crack at it.
Yet the outgoings have been sizeable in Kyogo, Luis Palma, Odin Holm, Alex Valle and Alexandro Bernabei among the horde of players to depart.
The argument might be that Rodgers‘ wishes were not met, in the end, and the manager may well be kicking himself after making his feelings so clear in the build-up to the window closing.
Rodgers made it clear he wanted to strengthen his Celtic squad
He said last week: “My feeling was always once Kyogo was gone, was to have someone else to come in. I don’t know exactly know where it’s at at this moment, but I’d be hopeful that we can do that.
“But the demand is still there to improve the squad. We have to make sure that there’s constant improvement. That’s been clear. I don’t need to fall out with anyone over it.
“That is our plan. There’s lots of work going on behind the scenes in order to do that so we’re hopeful that we can. We want to have the strongest squad we possibly can.
“We’ve lost a couple of players that were important players for us but also players have gone out on loan so we know we want to get into the market to have the strongest squad we can to finish off the season.
“We’ll see where we’re at by Monday evening. We want to, as a club, improve the squad and hopefully we can do that over the next 24 hours or so.
“The club knows my feelings, they know why I came back. I’m here to enjoy my time at Celtic, not to fall out with myself and do all the things that sometimes I maybe didn’t do the first time.
“But the demand is still there to improve the squad. We have to. We have to make sure that there’s constant improvement.
“That’s been clear. I don’t need to fall out with anyone over it. Everyone knows what it is we want to do at the club and that’s us all. I’m hopeful that we can do that.
“I don’t expect it to be hectic, but I would hope that we could come out of this window stronger. And that’s always been the plan.”
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
