Ange Postecoglou signing must leave after Celtic decision

A change in managers is always an interesting time for a club and the players, and Celtic certainly are going through a transitional phase right now. Ange Postecoglou left at the end of last season in order to join Tottenham Hotspur while Brendan Rodgers has been brought in as the Australian’s replacement.

Of course, Rodgers’ arrival has meant that everyone has started on a clean sheet. While it seems to have been good news for the likes of Liel Abada, Stephen Welsh and Liam Scales, there are others who do not seem to be in the Northern Irishman’s plans.

Yuki Kobayashi appears to fall under that category. The Japanese defender was signed earlier this year and played a bit of football under the management of Postecoglou.

He is yet to make an appearance this season though. In fact, he has even made the bench on just one occasion and that’s with multiple centre-backs being out injured. And now, he has been left out of Celtic’s Champions League squad.

Postecoglou signing must leave after Celtic decision

Gustaf Lagerbielke, Liam Scales, Nat Phillips, Stephen Welsh and Cameron Carter-Vickers are the five centre-backs in Celtic’s Champions League squad. The latter two are out injured at the moment and are not expected to be back in action anytime soon.

That goes on to show the situation that Kobayashi currently finds himself in. Alexandro Bernabei is another player who has been left out of the Champions League squad but in his case, one can see the scope for playing time in the league.

That is not the case for Kobayashi. Especially when the likes of Carter-Vickers, Maik Nawrocki and Welsh return from their respective injuries. Thus, the writing seems to be on the wall for him. The Japanese centre-back’s days as a Celtic player might be numbered.