That much-wanted and perhaps needed striker didn’t arrive for Celtic and Brendan Rodgers during the January transfer window.
It was still the right call to allow Kyogo Furuhashi to leave because he made it clear months before that he wanted to go.
The issue here is that the powers that be at Celtic knew of Kyogo’s feelings, yet as the hours were ticking down on transfer deadline day, no new striker was arriving and it left the fans frustrated.
Many names were linked, including Brondby hitman Mathias Kvistgaarden. Don’t be surprised if his name pops up again in the summer.
Celtic didn’t want to meet Brondby’s valuation for the Danish star, which is understandable because there is no point in going over the odds for the sake of it or just to please the fans.
But not even a short-term option was brought in, even though many names were linked.
Celtic told it would have been a ‘surprise’ if they signed Danny Ings or Kelechi Iheanacho
Two of Rodgers’ former players – Kelechi Iheanacho, from his days at Leicester City, to Danny Ings, from his time at Liverpool – were being suggested as possible options.
Iheanacho did make a move on deadline day when he signed for Championship side Middlesbrough, but Ings remained at West Ham United.
Andy Halliday explained how the likes of Iheanacho and Ings aren’t your ‘typical Celtic signings’ because the club prefer bringing in someone who has a sell-on value – the latter is 32-years-old.
That’s why the Motherwell midfielder would have been ‘surprised’ if Celtic went down that road during the winter transfer window, despite the annoyance of nobody coming in, as he told Clyde 1 Superscoreboard.
“I think the Iheanacho and the Danny Ings links, they aren’t typical Celtic signings, are they?” stated Halliday.
“You do tend to see that they go more towards a Kvistgaarden. Someone who they feel they can bring in, improve and then sell on for a profit.
“I would have been really surprised if two of them had got sanctioned. Don’t get me wrong. I mean Iheanacho was once bought for £35 million.”
Extra pressure on Adam Idah
The time is now for Adam Idah to step up and make that number nine spot his own because Celtic spent big money on him for a reason.
Post Kyogo leaving, things have started to look rosy for the Irishman, including scoring a brace against Aston Villa in the Champions League.
But, with Idah set to get a run of starts now, where he knows Kyogo isn’t there to dethrone him from the XI, then he needs to take this chance and that’s where the extra pressure comes from.
His goal tally when he first joined on a loan deal – nine goals in 19 matches in all competitions- was pretty good going, especially given that many of those were off the bench.
But, in the overall picture since he signed for good, even Idah knows that the levels need to be upped.
| Competition | Apps | Goals | Assists | Minutes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Premiership | 21 | 6 | 1 | 964′ |
 | UEFA Champions League | 8 | 3 | – | 241′ |
 | League Cup | 4 | 2 | – | 185′ |
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