Brendan Rodgers really set the cat amongst the pigeons today after his comments that he’s set to trim the Celtic squad this January.
The Hoops boss was speaking ahead of the St Mirren fixture tomorrow night when he said [The Sun], “It’s more quality than quantity, but I think there will be more going out than coming in.
There will be players who will be here for six months and won’t have played.
“It’s no fault of them. The squad is a lot bigger than I would want. I think there will be more players who will look to go out and get game time.”
So it’s quite clear from the Celtic manager that he intends to wield the axe and slimline a Celtic squad that will be draining the club’s finances.
And now it’s a guessing game. Who will be shown the exit door or who could be let out on loan. Today TBR Celtic looks at the five players who should be given a permanent Celtic exit.
James McCarthy is the first player that needs to leave Celtic
No harm to him, but McCarthy has barely featured at all since signing his £14k p/w deal back in 2021. The former Irish international has not featured at all this season under Brendan Rodgers and looking at the players who are ahead of him, he is not likely to.
It’s time to let him move on and free up space in that Celtic squad.
Benjamin Siegrist should be shown the Celtic exit door
The Swiss goalkeeper came to Celtic with a decent pedigree. Widely regarded as one of the best ‘keepers in Scotland, Siegrist joined the Hoops on a free transfer last summer from Dundee United and hoped to challenge Joe Hart for that No. 1 spot.
However, the 31-year-old made just two appearances for Celtic last season and to compound his slump at the club, Brendan Rodgers preferred Hoops No 3 backup keeper, Scott Bain, when Hart was suspended for the game against Livingston earlier in the season.
It was thought that Siegrist wanted to leave Celtic in the summer but was told to stay but maybe now is the time to think about letting him go after doubts were raised about his commitment to training
Yuki Kobayashi will not make it at Celtic
The Japanese defender was signed by Celtic in January of this year on an incredible five-year deal.
Since then he has made just seven appearances at the club and, more notably, seriously struggled in the 3-0 defeat to Rangers and the 4-2 defeat to Hibs at the end of the season.
Now sitting fifth in the Celtic central defensive pecking order, Kobayashi’s chances of seeing any first-team football took a real nosedive since the emergence of the excellent Liam Scales.
Kobayashi has not featured this season and, to be fair to him, he did get injured during the tour of Japan but is he likely to start ahead of Stephen Welsh, Gustaf Lagerbielke and Maik Nawrocki? It is very unlikely.
Alexandro Bernabei has struggled with life at Celtic
The £3.75m signing from Argentina was another player that Celtic signed with a decent pedigree. However, he has failed to displace the brilliant Greg Taylor who has been an ever-present in the Celtic team over the last two-and-a-half seasons.
Off-field issues hindered the start of Bernabei’s Celtic career and although he was somehow a fan-favourite (especially amongst the away support) he has never really shown anything to justify the huge fee Celtic paid for him.
Rodgers may well be best served trying to recoup some of that £3.75m so he can invest it into the Hoops first-team.
David Turnbull’s time could well be up at Celtic
First off, I’m a huge fan of Turnbull and I have been for a while. I love nothing more than seeing Scottish players make it at Celtic and go on to have good international careers as well.
And that initially did happen for the 24-year-old. Under Ange Postecoglou Turnbull continued the form we saw when he won the PFA Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year awards in season 2020/21.
But an injury sustained halfway through Postecoglou’s first season put paid to any progress he made at Celtic. Especially after the arrival of Matt O’Riley and Reo Hatate.
However, after being preferred over Reo Hatate at the start of the season, Turnbull’s form quickly dipped and he found himself back on the Celtic bench.
With his contract set to expire and no hint of a new deal being offered, it looks like Turnbull could be on his way out of Celtic despite Brendan Rodgers really rating him.
In other news, Celtic told to sign 28-year-old striker who can score goals ‘for fun’