Kwon Hyeok-kyu is expected to go out on loan this month, ending the mystery over why he was ever signed in the first place.
After signing Oh Hyeon-gyu in January the hoops returned to South Korea in the summer to sign up Kwon and Yang Hyun-jun during the summer.
Although Brendan Rodgers has admitted that he did have the final say on signings it is hard to imagine the Irishman pushing the case to sign anyone from the Korean Second Division.
Even among some questionable summer deals midfielder Kwon seemed to stand out. In January Tomoki Iwata was signed, followed in June by Odin Thiago Holm was also recruited even though there was already a very strong midfield trio in place led by Callum McGregor backed up by Matt O’Riley and Reo Hatate.
There was still time to sign another midfielder, in recent weeks Paulo Bernardo, on loan from Benfica is looking the most likely of the midfield signings to pose a threat to O’Riley and Hatate.
Where that leaves Holm is anyone’s guess, providing a summary of expected transfer activity in the Daily Mail McGowan claims:
Signed from the South Korean second tier, Kwon Hyeok-kyu is likely to return home on loan, while Marco Tilio — currently at the Asian Cup with Australia — is emerging as the new Daniel Arzani.
With a five year contract Kwon will be in no rush to leave Celtic but a complete lack of game time will be a concern for the player who will be 23 in March.
In pre-season he made a positive impact coming off the bench against Wolves in Dublin but a couple of days later he looked badly out of his depth when he started against Athletic Bilbao in the James Forrest Testimonial.
Marvin Compper was a strange Celtic signing in January 2018, making one Scottish Cup appearance against Morton before being discarded, sadly it looks like Kwon is destined for a similar footnote in Celtic history.
CLICK HERE for Kwon’s Transfermarkt profile.
CLICK HERE for Rodgers cautions against transfer expectations.
