The three players Celtic should now let go to save £35k-a-week in wages

Celtic has a brilliant business model which means the club have been well-run for the best part of 30 years.

Ever since Fergus McCann took over the club in 1994, the club has grown from strength to strength. Not only off the park but on it.

And that’s because of the excellent financial structure of the club. A 60,000-seater stadium with over 50k season ticket holders and an excellent player-trading model means that the club can invest in bringing in quality players to help continue their domination of Scottish football.

But, like all transfers, not all of them work out exactly how they should. Sometimes transfer fees and wages are wasted on players who, for some reason or another, just can’t make it at the club.

And there are three players that Celtic should be looking to let go to stem the flow of money leaving the club.

Three players Celtic must let go

James McCarthy, Yosuke Ideguchi and Ben Siegrist must all be allowed to leave the club. All three players combined are costing Celtic £35k per week in wages when it could be invested in other areas of the team.

For McCarthy, this is the Irishman’s third season at the club. The £14k per week midfielder has made just 27 appearances for the club during that time with only five of those made last season and all from the bench. [Transfermarkt]

It is clear he has no part to play at the club and must be let go either by mutual consent or on a free.

Yosuke Ideguchi is another who must be let go. Celtic currently pay the Japanese midfielder £6k per week and has made just six appearances. [Transfermarkt]

Granted, injury curtailed his Celtic career and he has spent the last season on loan at Avispa Fukuoka. But when the loan expires in December, is he really going to get into this Celtic team ahead of Matt O’Riley, Reo Hatate or David Turnbull?

I would argue he would be behind new signings Odin Thiago Holm and Hyeokkyu Kwon.

Finally, goalkeeper Ben Siegrist is another that must be let go. Reportedly on £15k per week, Siegrist has made just two appearances for Celtic since signing on a free last summer.

Reports suggested that he wanted to leave the club this year but Celtic decided to keep him. If Celtic get the opportunity to bring in another ‘keeper in January who can genuinely challenge Joe Hart, Siegrist must be allowed to move on.

£35k per week amounts to a cool £1.82m per year that Celtic are paying out on three players who clearly have no future at the club. For the good of the club and their careers, they should be allowed to leave as soon as possible.

 

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‘It was nice to keep Ibrox quiet’; Celtic New Bhoy Rubs it In

It was a memorable afternoon for Celtic on Sunday as the Bhoys came away from Ibrox with three points. Kyogo scored the only goal of the game, although there were several other of his teammates who stood out.

At the heart of the defence, Liam Scales remained utterly solid alongside Gustaf Laegrbielke. The Sweden international did have a few iffy moments but on the whole, played his part in the win.

Recently, Lagerbielke has spoken out, indeed saying it was satisfying to silence Ibrox. He said (Glasgow Times): “It was nice to keep Ibrox quiet. It was an awesome experience. I had been given a little warning about what it would be like, but it was kind of cooler than I thought. It was very important that we won

The weekend’s win was colossal for Celtic. It moved the Bhoys four points clear at the top of the table heading into the maiden international break of the campaign.

The Hoops are in a prosperous position at the minute, and despite having a hectic start to life in Glasgow, Lagerbielke believes he has progressed his game. He said: “It’s been great at Celtic so far. The guys in the team and the management team have been very welcoming and it’s nice to be able to start playing straight away. It has been very educational.”

He didn’t look the most convincing at times at the weekend, but Lagerbielke is only 23 and has lots of room for improvement. He was sufficient, and going forward will only continue his upward trajectory.