Arrival of Kuhn has created a winger logjam at Celtic Park
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-dissimilar 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 £2.8 million deal.
Kuhn has been 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 createdbythesigningofthe24-yearold - who can work off both flanks - is more pronounced than when Shved pitched up. The Ukrainian 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 willbehisfrontlineperformers for driving the team forward from the flanks.
Palma,thoughtechnicallyproficient,singularlylacksthisfacet and so the Honduran could find himself regularly on the bench once Celtic are returned to their full complement following the Asiacup.theevidenceofgameas 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. Both are contracted to the club beyond the end of the current season but they may well be squeezed out before then.