BACK in June, CQN named ten players who could be heading for the exit in Celtic’s summer clear-out.
Nine out of the total have gone, but one performer remains.
Puzzlingly, it’s Liam Shaw, a player who has made just ONE first-team appearance in over three years since arriving from Sheffield Wednesday in June 2021, a week before Ange Postecoglou took over.
Sead Haksobanovic had already signed for Malmo on a permanent basis before CQN compiled the list of possible departures.
NEW SEASON, NEW CLUB…Mikey Johnston at West Brom.
Mikey Johnston headed our compilation after his success on loan at West Brom when he scored seven goals in 20 appearances during his loan stint at the Midlands club in the second half of the season.
We stated it was make-your-mind-up-time for the 25-year-old Republic of Ireland international winger who had been introduced to the top side by first time-around Rodgers in May 2017.
Johnston, with two years to run on his contract, was desperate for game-time and he has been offered that at the Hawthorns outfit who saw off opposition from Burnley and Sheffield United to land the wide Bhoy in a £3million deal last week.
South Korean striker Oh Hyeon-gyu was in a similar position to Johnston and the frontman ended his one-and-a-half year stay at Parkhead with a £2.2milliion switch to Genk.
He had cost £2million from K-League outfit Suwon Bluewings when ex-boss Postecoglou signed him on a five-year contract in January 2022, but made only three league starts in his 20 appearances last term.
Oh claimed a meagre five goals to add to six in his debut crusade. An unimpressed Rodgers allowed him to move to Belgium.
MAKING A POINT…Oh Hyeon-gyu in one of his last appearances for Celtic in the 1-1 pre-season draw with Ayr United at Somerset Park.
Benji Siegrist dropped to third in the pecking order behind Joe Hart and Scott Bain and the former Dundee United keeper, who arrived on a free July 2022, never made a Premiership outing for the Hoops.
Neil Lennon took him to Rapid Bucharest in the summer during the ex-Celtic gaffer’s ill-fated three-month stint in Romania.
Japanese centre-back Yuki Kobayashi didn’t figure in Rodgers’ first-team plans at all during the season and the left-sided defender has been offloaded to Portuguese side Portimonense for an undisclosed fee.
Fellow-back four operator Gustaf Lagerbielke also moved out on a season-long loan switch to Dutch club FC Twente and South Korean midfielder Kwon Hyeok-kyu, who spent the second half of last term at St Mirren, agreed another temporary transfer with Hibs.
Striker Johnny Kenny is under contract at Shamrock Rovers until the end of the year and £3.75million misfit Alexandro Bernabei is also absent in a similar time scale at Brazilian top-flight outfit SC Nacional.
SWAPPING HOOPS FOR STRIPES…Yuki Kobayashi in Portugal.
There does not appear to be any long-term futures at Parkhead for the 21-year-old Irish frontman or the Argentinian left-back.
Thirty-three-year-old Republic of Ireland international James McCarthy has also vanished off the player list.
The Glasgow-born midfielder was a no-show last season and his final appearance came as a second-half substitute in the 2-1 win over St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park on October 8 2022.
And that leaves Shaw, 23, as the odd man out. He played in the 3-2 win over Real Betis in the Champions League at Parkhead in December 2021 before being loaned to Morecambe.
The defensive middle-of-the-park operator was also moved to Motherwell before spending last season at third-tier Wigan.
Shaw has another year of his Hoops contract to run. There are still some European transfer windows open in countries such as Belgium, Ukraine, Poland, Slovakia, Switzerland, Romania, Cyprus, Greece, Turkey and Serbia.
The Englishman could yet leave Celtic.
Watch this space!
