Ange Postecoglou's biggest strength as Celtic manager might have been his ability to pick out top-quality players from faraway leagues. Such talents were available for relatively low fees compared to those playing in Europe. That is the reason why the club were so efficient with their transfer activities back then, getting deals done by the time the window had opened.
Just look at some of the names who were brought in while Postecoglou was the Celtic manager. Kyogo, Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate will go down as club heroes for what they have achieved in the green-and-white jersey. And even signings that did not work out have proven themselves elsewhere.
Tomoki Iwata has been a key figure for Birmingham City. On the other hand, Oh Hyeon-gyu has developed into a £20 million-plus striker at Genk, since leaving Celtic.
Oh was not Celtic's first-choice target in the winter window of 2023 though, when Giorgos Giakoumakis was on his way out and the club needed a replacement. Instead, it was fellow South Korean forward Cho Gue-sung.
Ange Postecoglou names one player he wanted Celtic to sign
Cho was coming off a fantastic 2022 World Cup campaign at that point and Postecoglou has admitted that he tried to sign him for Celtic. As reported by CeltsAreHere, the Australian manager said:
"There’s a couple of players in there that I know really well.
“Big Cho from Korea, I tried to sign him when I was at Celtic, so very familiar with him."
Celtic did not manage to sign Cho that winter though as he remained in South Korea. He would eventually get his move to Europe though, moving to FC Midtjylland.
Postecoglou is going to come up against Cho this week, as his Nottingham Forest side take on FC Midtjylland. Of course, he has some prior history with the Danish club as well. Celtic met them in the Champions League qualifiers in the summer when the Australian was appointed and lost. It might be time for some payback.