Celtic did not have the best of January transfer windows, that much is clear.
Jeffrey Schlupp was the only player to arrive on deadline day and, aside from Jota, the business done was underwhelming.
Kieran Tierney agreed a pre-contract but Arsenal would not let him go last month and Kyogo was sold to Rennes with no striker brought in to replace him.
That is where the questions come in with Chris Sutton suggesting the Hoops made a “rookie” error in not following suit with the Gunners.
Celtic let Kyogo leave with no transfer replacement
Mikel Arteta did not want to leave himself short at left-back with Oleksandr Zinchenko at one stage poised for a £30million exit.
For Sutton that was the correct decision from an Arsenal standpoint and should have been exactly what Celts did with Kyogo until they knew they had an attacker lined up.
It was a transfer window error from Celtic and with Bayern Munich approaching in the Champions League after this evening’s Scottish Cup tie with Raith Rovers, it could potentially cost the Scottish Premiership giants.
“Brendan Rodgers said he knew Kyogo wanted to go for months and he wanted a replacement,” Sutton wrote in his Daily Record column.
This wasn’t like Moussa Dembele dropping a bombshell on deadline day. Celtic had plenty of time to prepare for his departure. It defies belief they allowed Kyogo to go without having a new man lined up.
“Ask yourself, why is Kieran Tierney not at the club right now? He certainly wanted to be, rather than making five minute cameos from the Arsenal bench.
“But the reason Celtic will have to wait until the summer is because Arsenal didn’t want to let him go right now and the player had to lump it. Why did that rule not apply at Celtic? If Celtic were not sure of getting a replacement, Kyogo should have been told to hold fire.
“I get there was big money involved but it’s not as if money is tight at Parkhead. By letting him leave Celtic completely showed their hand. Clubs knew they badly needed a striker and would be desperate. No wonder the prices shot up. It’s rookie stuff when it comes to negotiations.”
Sutton says Celtic took a risk in January
It was a “risk” for Celtic to do what they did in January.
And Sutton is sure Brendan Rodgers will be disappointed, even if not in public.
“As I’ve said before, it was just an unnecessary risk. And now Celtic are going to be sweating on the fitness of Idah until the end of the season – while putting a huge burden on Daizen Maeda.
“The latter will be a huge loss for the Bayern game and just underlines how mystifying the window turned out. There are questions to be asked about the recruitment process at Parkhead. Celtic have left it late a few times now and it’s finally caught up with them.
It would be handy to know what football doctor Paul Tisdale brought to the table? It’s not like he unearthed Jota, Tierney or Jeffrey Schlupp – who says he only got a call at 2pm on deadline day. Is the issue chief executive Michael Nicholson getting deals over the line?
“Why did Rodgers approve Kyogo’s sale if there were no guarantees over who was coming in? There seems to be an admittance things have not been quite right in that department but no apportioning of blame’s happened.
“Either way, it’s left Rodgers short. I know he’s been diplomatic in public, but he surely can’t be happy.
