South Korea under-23s manager Hwang Seon-hong has accused Celtic of breaking a promise they made about winger Yang Hyun-jun.
The wide-man was set to head to Qatar for the under-23 Asian Cup, which also doubled up as Olympics qualifiers.
He remained in Glasgow, though, amid the Hoops’ crucial title run-in. The 21-year-old admittedly hasn’t set it alight in recent games but he has provided an option no less.
A young player, Yang has a wealth of room for development and he may have had the chance to impress this summer in Paris at the Olympics had his nation qualified. Their performance in the under-23 Asian Cup, which he missed, means they won’t be there for the first time in 40 years, however.
Gaffer Hwang was left disappointed at this and in reaction to his side’s penalty shootout loss to Indonesia which confirmed their fate, he revealed that Celtic among other clubs broke a vow they made regarding the release of players.
He said: [RecordSport] “Firstly, I am the coach and I take full responsibility. However, there were circumstances beyond our control such as the failure of some European clubs to release players.
“I personally visited Celtic, Brentford and Stoke City and I was promised the participation of Yang Hyun-jun, Kim Ji-soo and Bae Jun-ho. But when the tournament came, the clubs all refused to release their players because all were at a crucial stage at the end of their season.
“What could I do? I visited all of them.”
Hwang’s fury is understandable but so too is Celtic’s predicament. The Hoops are involved in one of the tightest title races in recent years and Brendan Rodgers needs everyone fit and available.
Yang is out of position on the left, he’s far better than Kuhn when playing on the right.
Rodgers is our problem at Celtic, he has his favourites and plays horrendous passing tactics which do not create goals.
Clown