Brendan Rodgers’ latest Celtic January transfer message on position club “can’t ignore”

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Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has only been able to add one player to his squad during the current transfer window but he’s looking for more.

Nicolas Kuhn arrived from Rapid Vienna through the week and will add options on the flanks alongside Liel Abada, Luis Palma and Daizen Maeda.

The club are still working on several acquisitions before the end of the month and, going by Rodgers’ most recent comments, adding a striker is a real priority.

With Maeda and Hyeongyu Oh currently at the Asian Cup, Celtic only really have Kyogo Furuhashi as a recognised striker heading into February.

More cover and quality is needed to rotate selections between now and the end of the season, as well as keep competition for places fierce.

Brendan Rodgers on Celtic transfers

Speaking this weekend, Rodgers acknowledged this issue, stating [The Herald]: “It’s an area we have to look at, we can’t ignore it. It’s the balance between bringing someone in to challenge while acknowledging that’s a difficult sell to someone when Kyogo has been fantastic here. Or is it a young player who comes in with potential to improve and get better?

“Those are the things that you think about, because it really is only for a short period of time that those guys will be missing [at the African Cup of Nations and the Asian Cup]. But, yeah, it’s all about availability.

“It’s also one that we have been looking at for a period of time and it would have really changed if Kyogo had gone away with Japan. That was our thinking process, that we would actually be left with no one. Him being here for virtually one game a week for a number of weeks changes the dynamic.

“It’s about getting the right players in. You can easily bring players in. But sometimes it takes a bit of time and patience. We’ve got the winger we wanted and there are some other positions we want to improve.

“If the players are available and we can do a deal, then great. If not, we’ll move on to the summer. It will only be if the right players are not available.”

The question that has to be asked is – if Kyogo finds himself injured or suspended, does Rodgers trust the other striking options currently available?

For me, there could be a definite upgrade on Oh but as the manager notes, it’s a hard sell to come in an play second fiddle to Kyogo.

No-one is denying it’s a tricky recruitment task, but the squad has to be strong enough for all eventualities in the second half of the season, so solutions have to be found.