Martin O’Neill has been dealing with an absurdly bloated squad at Celtic.
Thankfully for him, or whoever replaces him in the dugout at Celtic Park, six of them will be returning to their parents club after loan moves with varying degrees of success.
On the other hand however, there are just as many players returning to Glasgow after loan moves elsewhere, for whom decisions will have to be made. Luis Palma and Stephen Welsh have already called a permanent end to their Celtic careers after successful loans.
We decided to look through them and decide whether to sell them, loan them again or integrate them into the first team Celtic squad.
Luis Palma’s Celtic exit has been confirmed ✅
Our verdict for Celtic’s players returning from loan
Maik Nawrocki: Sell
Maik Nawrocki has enjoyed his time back in Germany, his country of birth. Despite narrowly missing out on promotion to the Bundesliga, his spell at Hannover has been seen as successful.
This has led to interest from elsewhere in Germany, including Bundesliga clubs, if reports are to be believed. If he’s this good, why not re-integrate him?
Two main reasons: firstly, his injury record remains suspect; he was forced out through several issues while at Hannover.
Also, Nawrocki simply deserves a fresh start. Clearly a capable defender, he has unluckily been discarded by many Celtic managers. It’s not worth chancing it again with so many clubs interested.
Johnny Kenny: re-integrate
Hear me out on this one…
I remain sceptical of Johnny Kenny’s ability to lead the line for Celtic. This is not a call to hand him the number nine jersey next season… just don’t rule out a resurgence next season.
Kenny’s form at Bolton is the polar opposite of the wasteful finishing we saw from the Irishman under Wilfried Nancy. Under him, the 22-year-old missed five big chances in six games with no goals, according to Opta.
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I’m quietly whispering that if he can keep getting into goalscoring positions that often, the floodgates could open in pre-season. If they don’t, I’d gladly send him back to Bolton.
But Kenny has his eyes set on making it at Celtic, and I admire his ambition for that. He has the tools to score goals.
Shin Yamada: sell
There is even less room for optimism regarding Shin Yamada, a man who simply should not have been signed by Celtic… we have Paul Tisdale to thank for that.
After failing to score in any of his 12 appearances, was sent on loan to relegated Bundesliga 2. side Preussen Munster, where he scored three in 14.
Should Celtic still be shopping in the J-League market?
Yamada’s lack of pedigree in the J League made him a perplexing signing, and this is not to say that he’ll never make it in Europe, but it certainly won’t be at Celtic.
He is completely out of his depth through no fault of his own.
Hayato Inamura: loan
Unlike that of his countryman, there was at least some logic behind the signing of Hayato Inamura: he was a late emerger from university football in Japan with clear quality on the ball, and Celtic moved to get in there early.
That he was signed so early and for a manager with zero enthusiasm to play him was something of a problem. Back on loan in Japan with FC Tokyo, he secured a second-place finish as a starting centre-back in the Eastern Conference of the J League.
A European loan would be the real litmus test for Inamura, and this path should be sought before a permanent sale is considered.
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