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Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers will have to be wary of losing some of his star players before the summer transfer window slams shut at the start of September.

The Northern Irish head coach lost Matt O’Riley to Brighton & Hove Albion in the summer of 2024 and Kyogo Furuhashi to Rennes in January, and there are a number of players in the current squad who could follow the Danish ace out of the door this year.

Nicolas Kuhn is one of Celtic’s current stars who could be on his way out of Parkhead before the end of the window, amid reported interest from RB Leipzig.

The German side are reportedly keen on a deal for the 25-year-old attacker, who is said to be valued at more than £17m by the Scottish Premiership champions.

As well as being wary of losing stars, Rodgers must also avoid moving on from squad players too early, before they have a chance to truly flourish, as was once the case with Ryan Christie.

How Celtic messed up with Ryan Christie

In the summer of 2021, Celtic decided to cash in on the left-footed star for a reported fee of £2.5m, as English side Bournemouth swooped in to bolster their squad for their season in the Championship.

The attacking midfielder ended his career in Glasgow with a return of 42 goals and 44 assists in 151 appearances in all competitions for the Hoops, which shows that he was an impressive performer, but not an outstanding one who was consistently delivering 30 goal contributions a season.

Christie was typically deployed on the right flank or as a number ten for the Scottish giants, hence why he posted decent numbers as a scorer and a creator, but Bournemouth took his game to another level by converting him into a deep-lying midfielder.

The majority of his appearances for the Cherries have come in a central or defensive midfield position, which has allowed him to flourish in the Premier League, particularly in the 2024/25 campaign.

Shot-creating actions

3.61

Top 21%

Progressive passes

5.82

Top 21%

Passes into the penalty area

1.40

Top 14%

Interceptions

1.28

Top 26%

Blocks

1.87

Top 9%

Clearances

2.17

Top 19%

Dribblers challenged

2.72

Top 20%

As you can see in the table above, Christie has combined his defensive and offensive qualities to make him one of the top box-to-box midfielders in the English top-flight, ranking highly among his positional peers in a host of metrics in and out of possession.

The 30-year-old star’s Transfermarkt value has soared to £8.5m as a result of his fantastic performances in the Premier League, which shows that Celtic messed up by selling him for just £2.5m in 2021.

European side eyeing deal for Celtic forward

The Hoops must avoid repeating the mistake that they made with Christie, when they sold him to the Cherries, amid interest in one of their current attackers.

Transfer Focus

Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.

According to Sky Sports, Polish giants Legia Warsaw have made an enquiry about a deal to sign Celtic winger Hyun-jun Yang in the summer transfer window, as they look to bolster their attacking options.

The report claims that the Europa Conference League outfit are interested in a swoop for the South Korea international, but that they are not the only team in for him.

It adds that there are also clubs in England and across Europe, although unnamed, eyeing up the 23-year-old talent, which shows that he has plenty of suitors waiting to snap him up from Parkhead if he becomes available.

However, Sky Sports does not reveal whether Celtic are willing to part ways with the young forward, who has three years left on his contract with the club, at this moment in time.

Why Celtic should not sell Hyun-jun Yang

The Hoops whiz is currently valued at around £2m by Transfermarkt, similar to the fee that was paid by Bournemouth for Christie, and the club should not be looking to cash in on him for that sort of price this summer.

He is a talented young prospect who still has plenty of time left ahead of him to develop and grow into being a key performer for the club on a regular basis, having shown progress during his spell in Glasgow so far.

South Korea national team manager Myung-bo Hong claimed that Yang made a “major impact” in matches for Celtic, in spite of his lack of regular minutes on the pitch, and was impressed by his performances.

The versatile winger managed to produce five goals and two assists in the Scottish Premeirship, despite only starting nine games, which backs up Hong’s comments.

Yang only managed one goal and three assists in 31 outings in all competitions in the 2023/24 campaign for Celtic, then racked up six goals and six assists in 34 matches in all competitions last term for the Scottish giants, which shows a clear progression in his performances.

Appearances

24

23

Goals

1

5

Conversion rate

5%

25%

Possession lost per game

9.8x

6.8x

Assists

3

2

Pass accuracy

81%

86%

The South Korean starlet is clearly improving with more experience under his belt in Scottish football, which is why the club should not be looking to cash in on him at this time.

Ahead of Yang’s move to the club in 2023, Gangwon president Kim Byung-ji claimed he “could easily become a world-class player like Son Heung-min”, and this speaks to the kind of potential that the winger could go on to fulfill in the future.

These comments and his improving form for Celtic over the past two seasons suggest that he is on the rise and has the potential to develop into a star for Rodgers if all goes well.

This is why the Hoops must avoid selling him to Legia Warsaw, or any other club, because he could leave to become Ryan Christie 2.0, as another talented star whose value could soar elsewhere after moving on from Parkhead.

Scored 32 SPFL goals: Celtic could land £9m star who's better than Osmand

Celtic could sign an even better striker than Callum Osmand by landing this star.

ByDan Emery Jul 1, 2025

Manchester United have endured the worst Premier League season in their history, finishing in 15th place and registering just 42 points – the lowest tally in such a division.

Ruben Amorim was appointed back in November, but has so far been unable to turnaround their fortunes, losing 17 of his 42 matches since taking the reins.

He’s only had one window to make his own mark on the first-team squad at Old Trafford, with Patrick Dorgu his only major investment to date – costing £30m from Italian side Lecce.

However, the 40-year-old will want to part ways with numerous players already on the books, enabling him to have the freedom and funds to make the changes he desires.

With the transfer window just around the corner, numerous players have already been linked with moves to join the Red Devils, potentially using any funds generated from multiple potential sales.

The latest on United’s hunt for new additions this summer

Over the last couple of weeks, Liam Delap has been United’s number one target for the centre-forward position as the hierarchy look to provide Amorim with the ammunition he needs.

However, it appears as though the manager is set to miss out on a deal for the 22-year-old, after it was confirmed that he prefers a move to fellow English side Chelsea this summer.

Delap isn’t the only English star touted with a move to Old Trafford this summer, with Crystal Palace’s Eberechi Eze on their radar, according to American outlet ESPN.

Their report claims that the hierarchy have been looking at a potential deal for the 26-year-old attacking midfielder, who’s registered a total of 16 combined goals and assists in the Premier League this season.

It also states that it’s unclear whether the board can afford him unless they sell players currently at the club, with the Palace star currently boasting a £68m release clause in his contract.

Why United’s £68m target could be the perfect Bruno replacement

Over the last couple of days, club captain Bruno Fernandes has been largely touted with a move away from United, with Saudi Arabian clubs circling for his signature this summer.

The 30-year-old has been the shining light in the squad this season, registering 37 combined goals and assists across all competitions – helping the side reach the Europa League final.

The Portuguese international stated he wanted to stay at Old Trafford despite the defeat, but given the rumoured £700k-per-week contract on the table from Saudi, it would be a huge offer to turn down for the midfielder.

There’s no denying that it would be a huge loss, with it unthinkable where the club would be right now if it wasn’t for his key contributions within the final third.

However, given his age, it may prove to be the final time they can command such a fee for his services, potentially cashing in on him and using the funds to pursue a move for Eze.

When comparing their respective figures from the recent campaign, the Eagles star has matched or bettered Fernandes in multiple key areas, highlighting his ability to step up to the plate if needed.

Eze, who’s been labelled “sensational” by content creator Ollie Thomas, may have registered slightly fewer combined goals and assists, but has registered more shots on target – showcasing his impressive ability in such an area when having the chance to advance.

How Eze compares to Fernandes in the PL (2024/25)

Statistics (per 90)

Eze

Fernandes

Games played

34

36

Goals & assists

16

18

Shots on target per 90

1

0.7

Progressive carries

2.4

2.3

Pass accuracy

76%

76%

% of tackles won

47%

40%

Take-on success

49%

41%

Fouls won

1.8

1.1

Stats via FBref

He’s also completed the same percentage of passes he’s attempted, whilst also completing more take-ons, thriving in chance creation with the ball at his feet.

The England international has also won more of the tackles he’s entered, handing Amorim the option to utilise him in a deeper-lying role should he need to in 2025/26.

Offloading Bruno would be a huge blow and something which would anger a lot of supporters – especially considering his impressive record at Old Trafford since his arrival back in 2020.

However, Eze would be a superb addition, with his stats showcasing that he’s capable of surpassing the level produced by the 30-year-old with the Red Devils – allowing for a new lease of life after such a dismal season.

Related Their own Wirtz: Man Utd make move for "incredible" £36m Bruno replacement

Man Utd may need to find a suitable replacement for Bruno Fernandes this summer

Posts 2 ByRobbie Walls May 28, 2025

Could Mohammad Rizwan have taken more risks? Either way, the target should have been chased

Osman Samiuddin10-Jun-20241:18

Kumble: Bumrah creates pressure on any surface

Let me warn you right now. What you’re going to read, you’ve read about before. A lot. If it feels like you’ve been reading about it for, hmmm, the last three hundred years, it’s because you have. Every time, in fact, a big tournament is on the horizon, we’re talking about it. Did it very recently ahead of this big tournament that we’re in right now.What else are you going to do though? Rewatch the highlights? Move on? How can you when the very thing you’ve been reading about and most likely furiously debating over the last three years is the very thing that is the only debate worth having after another loss to India in a world event?If you’ve spent three years either being for RizBar (and against the middle order) or against RizBar (and for the middle order), what’s one more time? As a refresher, here is a succinct summary of the matter from less than a fortnight ago, from our very own Matt Roller:

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Bumrah spearheads India's defence of 119; Pakistan on brink of elimination

The specific details from this game are that this time it was Mohammad Rizwan who top-scored for Pakistan with 31. He took 44 balls to do it. He hit one four and one six. He anchored their chase of 120 deep into the innings and when he fell off the first ball of the 15th, Pakistan needed 40 with six wickets in hand. Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan and Iftikhar Ahmed, the lower middle order, combined to make 24 off 39 balls. They hit one boundary between them, a fortuitous edge off Imad’s bat. In the end Pakistan fell short by six runs, with three wickets still in hand and an all too familiar script.Some of you will argue that Rizwan’s low-risk batting is actually a high-risk approach. To go so deep, to use so much resource and to still not be ahead of the game when you leave, is inherently unfair on the middle order. When Rizwan began the chase, Pakistan required a run-a-ball. When Rizwan left the chase, they needed nearly seven an over which, on that surface, was always going to be difficult.We’ve been here before, plenty of times•Associated PressCould – indeed should – Rizwan not have taken more chances like Rishabh Pant? Could he not have foregone a degree of control and chanced his bat to attempt a few more boundaries? Pant had a control percentage of 50% in his 31-ball 42 and, frankly, even that feels high. He could’ve been out at least thrice. But he took risks on a pitch that needed taking risks on, and it came off. Rizwan’s control percentage was 70%, and he took no risks except the most ill-advised one: slogging Jasprit Bumrah’s very first ball of a returning over.The counter, of course, is that Rizwan had done enough and 40 off 35 balls with six wickets to come should not have been a problem, even on that surface. All it needed was a couple of boundaries between the remaining batters and the pressure would’ve gone. That it didn’t happen is precisely why Rizwan played as he did. None of Imad, Shadab or Iftikhar tried to innovate, or manufacture a shot on a pitch which needed it. Indeed, it is an indictment that it took Naseem Shah to show the way, scooping Arshdeep Singh in the final over by when it was already too late.At one stage, across the 16th and 17th over, Imad’s shot options seemed to have whittled down to the solitary one: a cut square. Only he could barely connect. In the penultimate over, Bumrah bowled two full tosses to Iftikhar. Numbers show that Bumrah’s full tosses are harder to hit than most, but these were probably not those ones, the low ones that miss a yorker length marginally. These were thigh-high gimmes, angling right into Iftikhar’s wheelhouse. He swung at both, got a leg bye off the first and was dismissed off the second, hitting high but not getting close to the midwicket boundary. These are familiar scenes of failure, just different names. Imad, Shadab, Iftikhar today, Haider Ali, Asif Ali, Khushdil Shah, Azam Khan over the last few years.Imad Wasim laboured for 23 balls•Getty ImagesIf there is a hot, new fresh take in this tired old debate though, it’s this. This isn’t an either-or problem. It’s not even a debate. After years of arguing that one or the other is the real problem and that they are linked, as this loss, and this campaign, has made crystal clear (Babar Azam top-scored against the USA but with a strike rate of 102 and, Shadab apart, the middle order 33 off 25) is that both are the problem.In other words, Pakistan’s batting – top, middle, lower-middle – is just not very good.Which seems like a really obvious take, but after a game in which they failed to chase 120 it hits home like a new, revelatory truth. RizBar are consistent but low-impact openers whose low impact is hidden behind any number of pointless batting records (Most runs! Quickest to so-and-so-thousand runs! Highest average! Most century stands!). And the middle order is a long list of faceless, revolving failure. Different approaches, different philosophies, old hands, newbies, returnees, reinvented hitters, allrounders, specialists, finishers, but no solution to a continuing problem.Pakistan have made the last four and the final of the last two T20 World Cups but sift through the results and it’s rarely been the batting that has gotten them there. In fact, in the two key games of those tournaments – the semi-final against Australia and the final against England – it is the batting that has cost them.The chances of getting that far this time are fading swiftly, but the reasons for failure will be the same as they have always been.

Surrey coach Batty backs batter, but promotion shows lack of communication

Matt Roller19-May-2022Ollie Pope has never batted higher than No. 4 in a first-class match but Rob Key confirmed on Wednesday that he is in line to bat at No. 3 for England in their first Test against New Zealand.The decision represents a monumental show of faith in a batter who has averaged 22.29 in the last two years across 29 Test innings. Candidates were relatively thin on the ground after Ben Stokes had agreed that Joe Root should return to No. 4 but Dawid Malan – still centrally-contracted and the third-highest run scorer in Division One – would have been a sensible, pragmatic choice.But by backing Pope, Key and his selection panel – Stokes and Brendon McCullum were the others to cast votes – have underlined just how highly they rate him. There is a huge disparity between Pope’s averages in Test (28.66) and first-class cricket (51.52) but several iterations of England management teams have made clear that they believe the latter to be a more accurate indicator of his ability than the former.Related

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Pope’s Ashes series ended in grisly fashion, bowled around his legs by Pat Cummins on the final evening in Hobart when getting so far across to the off side that his leg stump was exposed. He ran drinks in the Caribbean but a run of 58, 127, 47, 5, 84 and 96 for Surrey – all at No. 4 and with a simpler stance – has helped convince England that he is still the most promising young batter in the country.”With a lot of these guys now,” Key said, “the bet is that with the talent they have, this environment, these coaches, Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes can get the best out of one of our most talented cricketers. And Ollie Pope is one of those that, if we can unlock him, which I think they can, there’s a seriously good Test cricketer there.”That Pope will bat at No. 3 for the first time in a Test match, rather than for Surrey, exposes the leadership vacuum that emerged at the ECB after England were thrashed in the Ashes. Gareth Batty, Surrey’s interim head coach, is open to the idea of moving Pope to No. 3 in the Championship if England make a request, but with no managing director, coach or captain at the start of the season, there was nobody who could have asked.