Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers has made no secret of his desire to trim some excess off the fringes of his squad before the end of the mid-season window.
The Irishman has already made some progress in that regard by loaning Hyeokkyu Kwon and Adam Montgomery to St Mirren and Motherwell, respectively.
Yosuke Ideguchi has left permanently and is now with Japanese giants Vissel Kobe; meanwhile, young stars Mackenzie Carse and Johnny Kenny will spend the remainder of the campaign at Queens Park and Shamrock Rovers.
Reports have previously indicated that Rodgers would be keen to trim his squad size down to around 25 players, which would make for some difficult behind-the-scenes conversations involving several individuals.
Football Scotland claim Benjamin Siegrist, Yuki Kobayashi, Alexandro Bernabei and James McCarthy could be part of a prospective squad cull at Parkhead.
On the same token, Marco Tilio and Gustaf Lagerbielke may be allowed to leave on loan before the close of play if suitors arise.
Lecce still want Celtic outcast Gustaf Lagerbielke on loan
Sweden international Lagerbielke finds himself in a strange situation at Celtic after being frozen out in the last few months despite only completing a £3 million move to Glasgow last summer.
The 23-year-old has been the subject of interest from Serie A sides Genoa, Hellas Verona and Lecce this window after failing to nail down a place under Rodgers.
Presenting the latest update on his situation, Sky Sports reporter Anthony Joseph has indicated that Lecce are still working on a deal to try and bring the defender to Stadio Ettore Giardiniero.
Nevertheless, the Hoops will need to foot the bill for a large portion of his wages to get him off the books on a loan basis.
Gustaf Lagerbielke’s time at Celtic hasn’t worked out
It clearly hasn’t worked out at Celtic for Lagerbielke and the best option may be to loan him out somewhere else to receive regular minutes for the time being.
This term, the 23-year-old has managed just nine appearances for the Bhoys across all competitions, scoring once against Feyenoord in the Champions League group stage [Transfermarkt].
Cameron Carter-Vickers, Liam Scales, Maik Nawrocki and Stephen Welsh are all ahead of him in the pecking order, meaning he is unlikely to be given many opportunities at Parkhead.
Finding him a temporary environment to showcase his abilities would be a wise move by Celtic before re-assessing his future in the summer.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
