Celtic are well in the hunt for a domestic treble, but Brendan Rodgers will have big plans ahead of a summer window that could see some notable departures and reinforcements at Parkhead.
Celtic look to fight the current of recent inconsistent form
Despite the Bhoys’ lightning first half of the campaign, they find themselves on the end of rare criticism for recent performances following their 1-0 defeat to St Johnstone last weekend.
Brendan Rodgers shared his frustration at Celtic’s recent run of form, which has included two losses to Rangers, losing out at Hibernian and a draw away to Dundee in Scottish Premiership action.
However, the landscape is still bright for the reigning champions, who could be mathematically confirmed as league winners this weekend by defeating Kilmarnock followed by Aberdeen recording a triumph over Rangers come Sunday lunchtime.
Admittedly, the likes of Nicolas Kuhn and several others have fallen a little short of what is required in recent times. It feels unfair to overly critique his performances, but his goal contribution downturn since firing Celtic into a 1-0 lead over Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena has caught the attention of supporters.
Nicolas Kuhn’s statistics for Celtic in 2024/25 – all competitions
Appearances
44
Goals
18
Assists
14
Without a goal in his last ten Scottish Premiership matches, the former Germany Under-20 international is on a frustrating run that has increased calls for the inclusion of other stars in his place, albeit he is likely to remain a key part of Rodgers’ plans.
Nevertheless, the supremely talented attacker’s stock remains relatively high in the grand scheme of things, which could lead to interested suitors this summer on the market.
Should Celtic decide to cash in on Kuhn for a hefty profit from the £3m they spent on him, former Scotland international Michael Stewart has delivered a clear picture of what he reckons Rodgers will do to replenish squad depth across his front four positions.
Michael Stewart thinks Celtic will 'clearly' sign a striker and winger
Speaking on the Scottish Football Social Club, Stewart has pointed out the fact he thinks Celtic will ‘clearly’ invest any profit on Kuhn into targeting a central striker or a ‘big name’ signing, potentially out wide too.
He stated: “If you look at the front three Celtic have at the moment, obviously there’s flexibility in there. Then you’ve got Idah and Yang as backup. They are clearly going to go and recruit a big name, or main, number nine striker.
“So if you’re selling one of the wide guys you could be signing a main striker and another winger and possibly still making a profit off that if you’re to sell Nicolas Kuhn at a good price.
“Celtic have shown over the years they are not frightened to sell one of their top assets at a good price and then reinvest, perhaps not all of it, but they’ve done well at then bringing in the next guy who’s gonna make them some money.”
It goes without saying, Celtic will need a striker this summer to help share the goalscoring burden moving forward. Maeda has hit 30 goals combined in his exploits out wide and through the middle, while Idah has added another 14 despite sometimes having to be content with a role from the bench.
Either way, there is a need for the Bhoys to splash out after losing Kyogo Furuhashi to Rennes in January. The Japan forward has hardly featured since moving to France, but his influence has been missed at times during the second half of the campaign.
