Three Celtic stars on the fringes who could have something big to offer

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The Celtic first-team squad for the 2023/24 season is slowly taking shape.

It’s been a hectic few months of player turnover, and a recent spate of injuries is likely to have further clouded manager Brendan Rodgers‘ view of his options.

But as the likes of Cameron Carter-Vickers and Reo Hatate come back into the picture, and new signings like Nat Phillips and Paulo Bernardo get up to speed, things are becoming a bit clearer.

There are, however, a few players who have been fit for the majority of the campaign but haven’t had their chance yet. We think they could have something big to offer.

Odin Thiago Holm may not be the Celtic support’s favourite player at present. The Norwegian showed his inexperience to get sent off against Feyenoord on Tuesday. It was a decision that effectively ended any chance of us picking up a result.

Yet, Holm has looked pretty handy so far. He has only started one competitive match — our cup loss to Kilmarnock — but his sub appearances at both Pittodrie and Ibrox were impressive.

Rodgers described him as a “fantastic young player” after the Rotterdam red. Holm could get more game time as the season progresses.

His fellow midfielder Tomoki Iwata seems a little further down the pecking order. The former J1 League player of the season has struggled badly for game time ever since Rodgers re-entered the building.

His appearance against Feyenoord was his first taste of competitive action all season. Given that he looked assured whenever he played in midfield under Ange Postecoglou, it has been a surprising drop-off.

Perhaps there is more to the story than we see as supporters. Maybe Rodgers just hasn’t taken to the former Yokohama F. Marinos man. Regardless, we think he could offer us something in the midfield that nobody else does.

Finally, forward Hyeongyu Oh has had to settle for a bit part so far this campaign. To be fair to the South Korean international, he did miss a month through injury, only returning for our derby win.

With Kyogo Furuhashi ahead of him in the pecking order, game time is always likely to be a challenge. But Oh netted seven goals from a similar position from January onwards last season.

Perhaps when we start playing two games per week regularly, he will get the chances he craves.

In other news, former Celtic star Moussa Dembele is absolutely flying in Saudi Arabia