Rodgers stressed that players like Maryan Shved were not imposed on him this winter, as he seeks elite talent rather than project players.
There was some Celtic transfer talk during the club’s AGM, amid strong rebukes for the Green Brigade and a touch of gallery playing with jokes about Rangers.
Brendan Rodgers attended his first since vacating the Parkhead hot seat back in 2019. The Hoops boss has already admitted a striker is top of his shopping list with Kyogo and Oh set for the Asian Cup with Japan and South Korea respectively. In the Kerrydale Suite on Wednesday, he also assured fans that so-called project players weren’t required and that quality to improve his starting XI is.
The likes of Odin Thiago Holm and Marco Tilio arrived in the summer, with the latter yet to make an appearance. But the winter window is about immediate impact rather than jam tomorrow. Rodgers said, “We have a squad that’s bigger than what we want, but that’s something. in the next two transfer windows, we will have the numbers and quality we really want.”
Rodgers is saying the right things, but fans will recall his final transfer window in charge and not fondly. In hindsight, it’s now clear a move to Leicester City was in the works, and Rodgers’ departure dominated the headlines, overshadowing the last few bits of business he did.
And while every boss thinks at the time they are improving their options, it’s hard to argue that when looking back at what Rodgers brought in. Record Sport does just that, as it serves as a reminder of what not to do ahead of the Irishman’s first mid-season window back in charge of the ship.
Maryan Shved
It was the £2million signing of the Ukrainian that prompted the questions on project players at the AGM. After his switch to Celtic was confirmed at the time, Rodgers wasn’t exactly excited at the prospect. He said: “I can’t say I know a great deal about him but what I have seen he is a talent and something that will probably benefit the club in the future.
“We’ve got about a million wingers and don’t need another one but he’s a talent and in the summer we’ll probably lose wingers and he’ll look to come in. It’s an opportunity for the club to sign a young talented player but not one that will probably help us now.
“The club have been in contact with his representatives and he is a player for the future. I haven’t seen a great deal of him to be honest, it is something that has come to the club through circumstance and he has been watched. I think that they will look to get the deal done on him and he will probably be out on loan.”
You don’t have to read between the lines all that well to be of the opinion some players first time round were not his signings. But he insists every one of them will be in this spell. He said on Wednesday: “None of these players have been pushed into me. But it’s about quality not always about quantity.”
In fairness to Rodgers, his Celtic successor Neil Lennon didn’t think much of Shved either. He played just three times and scored once, spending most of his Hoops career on loan back home in Ukraine and in Belgium.
Oli Burke
On paper, this looked like a good addition. Burke’s big money move to RB Leipzig from Nottingham Forest hadn’t worked out, despite being tipped as Scotland’s Gareth Bale. He returned to the Midlands with West Brom but injuries hampered his game time at the Hawthorns.
Therefore, the chance to get up to speed, boost his confidence and hopefully win some trophies north of the border seemed to be beneficial to both Burke and Celtic. He managed his first league goals in two-and-a-half years with a double in a 4-0 January rout of Aberdeen. But he would add just two more before the end of the campaign, and while Celtic ended up winning a treble Treble, Burke hardly pulled up any trees in the process.
Timo Weah
Son of Liberian legend George, Weah began his six-month loan spell by declaring his “love” for Celtic. Probably not the most sincere start and despite the famous name, Weah’s impact wasn’t box office, managing fewer goals than Burke.
He picked up a Premiership winners’ medal. But he missed out on the Scottish Cup after being called up to the US squad for the Under 20 World Cup. That Celtic decided to terminate his loan rather than ensure they had him available for Hampden tells a story.
Andrew Gutman and Manny Perez
Ah Andrew Gutman, we hardly knew ye. Manny Perez, we really didn’t. Gutman was signed on a three-year deal having previously been offered a week’s trial at Rangers. He was initially loaned to Nashville SC in the USL Championship. However, the Tennessee outfit then scrapped it, citing MLS “disapproval” of the deal.
A loan to Charlotte followed shortly after, before he was shipped out to FC Cincinnati the following season. Eventually in January 2021, Gutman joined Atlanta United on a three-year deal without ever playing for Celtic’s first team. As for Perez, he was sent to North Carolina FC straight away. He returned on loan during the 2020 season, before leaving Celtic that April to join Portland Timbers.
Vakoun Bayo
Celtic paid £2million to sign the Ivorian from Slovakian football. The signs weren’t good when they were forced to leave him out of their Europa League squad, only having space to register three of their new January arrivals. Before the following season had even started, Bayo joined Toulouse on a season-long loan, which included an option to buy.
After 10 goals in 31 games, Toulouse didn’t take Celtic up on that. Instead, he was gone permanently just 18 months after arriving, joining Genk in Belgium on a four-year-deal. In total, Bayo scored twice in 17 Celtic appearances, one of which was from the start.
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