Celtic’s apparent failure to sign a backup to Kyogo Furuhashi took a brief centre-stage outing when the Japanese striker was given treatment for a dislocated shoulder in the 3-0 win over Dundee last week.
The Celtic fans waited with bated breath to see if their hero would appear from the tunnel and, thankfully, he did. He also scored in the game which also brought into sharp focus one key issue.
If Kyogo Furuhashi got injured, could Celtic cope?
What would Celtic do? There was a time when that question wouldn’t worry the fans. The club had a Greek striker called Giorgos Giakoumakis who was the top scorer in the Eredivisie and who followed that up with another top-scoring season in the SPFL.
Celtic were well covered in that department and it was the least of our worries. But the club, or Ange Postecoglou, decided to part ways with him and off he went in January in a £4m move to the MLS to Atlanta United.
And with him went his goals. 26 goals in 57 appearances was a great return from the international striker and it’s goals that are now no longer available to Celtic.
Giakoukmais netted his 15th goal of the season for Atlanta United at the weekend. He has been prolific for the US side with his goal return outstripping his averages at Celtic.
With Hyeongyu Oh still to open his account this season and still looking a little raw around the edges, would the Celtic fans trust the South Korean to lead the line as well as Giakoumakis did?
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And to think, he was let go for just £4m. What would it cost to buy a striker that would guarantee his goal return?
I would imagine it’s going to cost Celtic a lot more than that when the January window comes around. So, have Celtic made a mistake? It certainly looks like it.
In other news, ‘I’m not even kidding’: David Martindale was blown away by 25-year-old Celtic player’s performance vs Livingston