Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers will currently be plotting moves to bolster his squad after the summer transfer window officially opened for business on Sunday.
The Northern Irish head coach has already landed one signing in the form of Kieran Tierney, who is set to re-join the club from Arsenal after six years in England.
Greg Taylor’s contract expires this summer and Jeffrey Schlupp’s loan deal has ended, which means that the Scotland international is currently the only left-back contracted to the Hoops heading into the 2025/26 campaign.
However, whilst Rodgers must think about potential transfer targets to improve the squad, the Celtic manager also has to be ruthless when deciding who will be a part of his team next season.
How Celtic's midfield could look next season
Football FanCast recently published an article outlining what a dream starting XI could look like for the Hoops next term, and it included a midfield trio of Callum McGregor, Arne Engels, and Lennon Miller, who could be signed from Motherwell as a potential replacement for Reo Hatate if he moves on.
That would leave Paulo Bernardo, Luke McCowan, and Hyeok-kyu Kwon as the senior central midfield back-ups heading into pre-season, after McCowan and Bernardo played back-up for much of this season.
The former Dundee star and the Portuguese whiz combined for ten goals and 13 assists across all competitions, with seven goals and nine assists for McCowan and three goals and four assists for Bernardo.
This suggests that they both provide enough attacking quality to be solid rotation options behind a first-choice midfield of McGregor, Engels, and Miller, which is why Rodgers must ruthlessly axe Kwon.
Why Celtic should axe Kwon
Kwon was signed from Busan IPark in the summer of 2023 and arrived as the ‘K League Rodri’, having averaged 3.3 tackles and interceptions and 5.0 ball recoveries per game in the K League 2 during the 2023 campaign.
Squawka noted that the midfielder was ‘likened to Rodri due to his similar stature and playing style’, as another towering number six who likes to make tackles and interceptions whilst also getting on the ball to complete passes and dictate matches.
Upon signing for the club, Kwon said: “I will become the best player in Celtic and go to higher places such as the German Bundesliga or the English Premier League.”
The 24-year-old star came to Glasgow with incredibly high ambitions, as shown by these comments, and was clearly plotting to be Rodgers’ own version of Rodri, who won the 2024 Ballon d’Or, as the star anchor of the midfield.
Appearances
8
21
Starts
8
12
Goals
0
0
Assists
0
0
Tackles + interceptions per game
2.5
2.0
Ball recoveries per game
5.0
2.1
Duel success rate
51%
53%
As you can see in the table above, though, Kwon has yet to play a league match for Celtic in two seasons, playing for St Mirren and Hibernian on loan.
Kwon, who was hailed as “excellent” by Saints boss Stephen Robinson, enjoyed a fairly decent start at St Mirren, starting regular matches, but his form tailed off at Hibs before his season was ended due to injury in March.
The defensive midfielder failed to start games on a consistent basis, and his defensive numbers reflect that with a decline in tackles, interceptions, and recoveries per game.
His lacklustre statistics and his lack of starts for Hibs do not suggest that he is likely to break into Celtic’s midfield next season, or earn a move to the Premier League or the Bundesliga, which is why Rodgers must ruthlessly axe him from the squad this summer.
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If an opportunity to cash in on the 24-year-old flop arises, the Hoops should move on from him, as they already have options in midfield, because his performances do not suggest that Rodgers will be getting his own version of Rodri any time soon.
