Whilst the main focus for Celtic supporters may be on incoming business and who the club could sign in the summer transfer window, there will also be exits from Parkhead.
One player who the fans may not want to see leave is attacking midfielder Matt O'Riley. It was recently reported that Leicester City have made an offer to take him to the Premier League next season.
The Danish wizard racked up 18 goals and 13 assists in the Scottish Premiership during the 2023/24 campaign and losing him would, therefore, be a blow as Brendan Rodgers would then be without one of his best attacking talents.
One exit that may cause less uproar from the stands, however, is the proposed sale of a striker who rarely got on the pitch for the Hoops last season.
Celtic dud expected to depart
According to the Daily Record, Hyeon-gyu Oh is expected to complete an exit from the Scottish giants before the end of the summer transfer window.
The report claims that Belgian side Genk are pursuing a deal to sign the South Korea international to bolster their options at the top end of the pitch.
It states that the Hoops outcast is 'expected' to depart in a transfer that will see Celtic earn a fee in excess of £4m, despite him being the third-choice striker in the squad during the second half of last season.
If this report is accurate then it appears as though the Premiership champions are set to pull off a blinder by making a decent profit on the South Korean number nine.
Why this is a blinder for Celtic
This looks set to be a brilliant piece of business by the Hoops as they are on course to brutally ditch a player who has been disappointing on the pitch in Scotland.
The 23-year-old attacker enjoyed a relatively decent start to his career at Parkhead with a return of six goals in 16 appearances in the league in the second half of the 2022/23 campaign, after a £2.5m move from Suwon Bluewings in January 2023.
However, his form in his first full season in a Celtic jersey suggests that the club are pulling off a blinder by selling him for more than £1.5m profit.
Oh scored five goals from 6.35 xG in the Premiership last term and the rest of his all-round game did not make up for his wasteful finishing in the final third.
Appearances
20
Goals
5
Assists
0
Big chances created
0
Key passes per game
0.3
Duel success rate
41%
As you can see in the table above, the right-footed dud, who was behind Adam Idah and Kyogo Furuhashi in the pecking order, offered very little as a creator and lost the majority of his physical duels.
Veteran broadcaster Hugh Keevins claimed that it would be a "miracle" for Celtic to earn £4m from the sale of Oh and the statistics back up his disbelief at the quoted figure.
Oh's poor finishing and lack of quality in and out of possession outside of the box, with zero 'big chances' created or assists, suggests that the Hoops have done incredibly well to negotiate a fee of £4m+ for a player they only paid £2.5m for 18 months ago.
Brutally ditching a player for profit who was the third-choice in his position at the end of last season and has been underwhelming on the pitch can surely only be seen as a positive piece of business by the Hoops.
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1 ByDan EmeryJul 7, 2024