It is fair to say that Celtic’s actions on deadline day at the end of the summer transfer window did not go down very well amongst a large section of the fanbase.
Such was the reaction to the club’s work on deadline day, the Scottish Premiership champions felt they needed to release a statement explaining their processes and why they failed to bring in any strikers before the window slammed shut.
One interesting line to pick out from the statement is the following: “The Club plans our recruitment and player trading strategy responsibly and consistently, ensuring the squad can be strengthened for the short, medium and long term, while also seeking to ensure the development and progression of our Academy players. Our objective is to create Champions League players.”
This is an interesting line to pick out because the Hoops opted to cash in on Adam Idah on deadline day, despite the fact that they had failed to sign a high-calibre number nine to that point.
Celtic then had to dip into the free agent market to sign Kelechi Iheanacho the day after deadline day because they were unable to sign a replacement for Idah before the window closed.
These decisions have left the Hoops in a position where their squad looks much weaker in the short-term than it did at this point last summer, which brings the aforementioned part of the statement into question.
Why Celtic have a problem in the number nine position
Celtic have sold Idah and Kyogo Furuhashi in 2025, raking in up to £17m in the process, but have only spent £1.5m on striker signings in that time.
Shin Yamada was brought in from Kawasaki Frontale for a fee of £1.5m this summer as the only senior striker who was not signed on a free transfer by the club in 2025.
The Japanese centre-forward scored two goals in 21 matches in the J1 League in 2025 before his move to Celtic, which shows that the club did not sign a player who was in form and ready to hit the ground running.
That has proven to be the case. Yamada has failed to score in five appearances for the Scottish giants in all competitions so far this season, per Sofascore.
Appearances
16
23
10
Goals
2
2
2
Big chances missed
2
10
3
Big chances created
0
2
1
Assists
2
1
1
As you can see in the table above, all three of Celtic’s natural number nine options have struggled for league goals in 2025, as all of them have failed to score more than two goals and missed more ‘big chances’ than they have scored goals.
These statistics show that the Hoops have a clear problem in the centre-forward position in the short-term, at least, after they allowed Kyogo and Idah to depart without replacing them with ‘Champions League players’.
Kenny, who scored his first goal for the club against Aberdeen, has shown promise with two goals in ten appearances and one start in the Premiership to date, but he was an unused substitute in both games against Kairat, which suggests that Brendan Rodgers does not fully trust him yet.
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Looking back, therefore, Celtic may regret their decision to sell Hyeon-gyu Oh to Genk in the summer of 2024, because his current form suggests that he would have been an upgrade on Idah and could have solved their attacking woes at Parkhead.
Why Celtic should have kept Hyeon-gyu Oh
Rodgers sanctioned a deal to sell the number nine to Genk for a fee of £2.3m in order to facilitate the permanent signing of Idah from Norwich City for £9.5m.
As you can see in the graphic above, the Ireland international was unable to replicate his prolific loan spell during his time as a permanent player at Parkhead, which led to him being sold to Swansea for a deal that could reach £7m.
That immediately suggests that Rodgers and Celtic made the wrong call to sign Idah on a permanent deal, particularly for the finances involved, because they were then willing to take a loss on him after just 12 months.
Oh’s form since moving on from the Hoops last summer only adds further evidence to that case, as he has been a huge success in Belgium with Genk, and caught the eye for his country.
The 24-year-old marksman delivered a goal and an assist for South Korea in a 2-2 draw with Mexico during the international break. That led to Korean football account Fighting Stripes Football claiming that Oh “has the potential to be Korea’s best ever striker” because of his technical qualities and his top-class mentality.
It is now down to the striker to go on and fulfill that potential, but a goal and an assist against a very respectable footballing nation in Mexico is a good way to start.
Oh’s form in Belgium for Genk also shows that the striker has been on fire since his move away from Celtic, and that he could have been an upgrade on Idah if the Hoops had kept him in Glasgow.
xG
1.03
0.71
xG on target
1.31
0.86
Goals
1.33
0.68
Shots on target
3.10
1.90
xA
0.18
0.14
Assists
0.30
0.00
As you can see in the table above, the South Korea international delivered more goals, more shots on target, more xA, and more assists per 90 than Idah at league level in the 2024/25 campaign.
Oh scored nine goals from 6.95 xG in 684 minutes of football for Genk in the Pro League, per Sofascore, which shows that he was incredibly clinical in front of goal and more than made the most of the minutes that he got on the pitch.
Such was the impressive nature of his performances for Genk, Stuttgart were reportedly set to clinch a £24m deal for the striker, before they backed out of a move after the medical brought up a red flag over an old ACL injury.
Whilst the move did not go through, the fact that Stuttgart were willing to pay £24m for a player who was let go by Celtic for £2.3m last year shows that the club made a mistake when they cashed in on him in 2024.
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Therefore, Celtic messed up by selling Oh last year because he could have offered more to the team than Idah and been the striker that Rodgers is now sorely lacking.
