Everyone associated with Celtic knew at the end of last season that the club was going to lose a whole host of players. Most of these players left after running down their contract or they returned to their parent club from loan.
Then there is another group of players who are still contracted to the club but who need to move on to gain game time, free up squad space and free up wages. Who these players are will differ from fan to fan but at the end of the day, Neil Lennon will decide who he wants to go.
Scott Allan was his first casualty, probably a no brainer as the midfielder returned to Easter Road. Yesterday the Celtic manager confirmed that Brendan Rodgers signing Youssouf Mulumbu had also left the club.
Lennon told RecordSport: “Mulumbu is a free. He is away, so there is no future for him here.”
So how many more players does Lennon need to move on for the challenges that lie ahead?
Here is probably the easiest choice for Lennon.
Marvin Compper: Has never featured in any telling way but there is still some fans who want him to have a chance to prove himself.
Jack Hendry: Probably a scapegoat at times, he got thrown in at the deep end last season and drown, could he make a comeback or is he just not got what it takes?
Nir Bitton: A lot of Celtic fans will come to Bitton’s defence, he has shown at times a touch of something different, he is probably in the list from missing most of last season through injury.
Eboue Kouassi: Another midfielder who did not feature last season, spent a lot of time injured, could Celtic recoup some of the 3m Brendan Rodgers spent on him?
Kundai Benyu: Things have not worked out at Celtic for the midfielder and he has struggled while at loan clubs too. It has hard to see anything other than the Celtic Park exit doors in Benyu’s future.
