Celtic's winger logjam: how new signing could impact Luis Palma, Yang and mark end for club great

Arrival of Nicolas Kuhn likely to have ripple effect on Celtic squad

Celtic unveil new signing Nicolas Kuhn. (Photo by Ross MacDonald / SNS Group)

As arch comments by a Celtic manager go, it was Marble-sized. And in the wake of the club’s capture of Nicolas Kuhn, it was inevitable Brendan Rodgers’ reaction, near the end of his first spell, to a not-dissimiliar acquisition in the January window of 2019 would be recalled. “We have a million wingers, and don’t need another one,” the Northern Irishman said when it then emerged Marian Shved was about to be added to his squad.

The contrast could not have been more acute with how effusive Rodgers’ has been this week over landing the German wide man from Rapid Vienna in a £2.8m deal. Kuhn described as “dynamic”, possessing “real attacking intent”, of “the profile we were looking for” to “fit well into our style”, and an addition he and “all the coaches were looking forward to working with”. Yet, the winger logjam created by the signing of 24-year-old – who can work off both flanks – is more pronounced than when Shved pitched up. The Ukranian bolstered the number of wingers in Celtic’s senior pool to six. Kuhn makes the present-day total no fewer than eight.

That suggests profound implications for those who will vie for wide berths in Rodgers’ picks. Not so much in the coming weeks – with two of that number, in Daizen Maeda and Yang Hyun-jun, currently involved in the Asia Cup – but beyond that. The billing given by the Celtic manager to Kuhn suggests he considers him the ready-made starter of a variety thin on the ground following the Scottish champions summer transfer activity. If that is so, then beyond Liel Abada and Maeda, Celtic’s quartet of other winger options in Luis Palma, Mikey Johnston, James Forrest and Yang slide down the pecking order. Or, for the more unfortunate, possibly out of contention for even simply earning a place in the matchday squad. Note the absentee, in the form of Marco Tilio. But, frankly, the Australian international isn’t in any equation.

All manner of questions have been raised over Abada’s contentment at Celtic Park as the club’s support have shown their support for the Palestinian people as his country Israel have waged a brutal war in Gaza. But now fit again after four months sidelined, Abada seems set to be one of Rodgers go-to players for the wide roles in the second half of the season. Pace is a prized commodity for the Celtic manager, and with this among the major assets of Kuhn, Abada and Maeda, these will be his frontline performers for driving the team forward from the flanks.

Palma, though technically profficient and imaginative, singularly lacks this facet and so the Honduran could then find himself regularly on the bench once Celtic are returned to their full complement following the Asia Cup. The evidence of game-time provided to Yang since his summer arrival would place him there too.

All of which gives rise to the belief that, barring injury issues, sightings of Johnston and Forrest could become rare on matchdays. And that doubts could be placed on the pair having long-term futures with the club. Both are contracted to the club beyond the end of the current season. But if they join the ranks of the shadow figures in a bloated Celtic squad – no small coterie as it stands – they might be faced with the need to move on to avoid atrophying. Forrest did not make the matchday squads for Celtic’s final two post shutdown games but has been a titan for his boyhood team, and across 13 seasons fully earned his place among the club’s most decorated performers of all-time. But the fact he is still only 32 means he deserves a footballing home where he can be centre-stage across his latter years, and not merely a secondary understudy.