Since Brendan Rodgers' return to Celtic in the summer of 2023, many fans have questioned how much say he has when it comes to transfer signings. Just look back at that summer window. The club brought in players like Maik Nawrocki, Gustaf Lagerbielke, Marco Tilio, Kwon Hyeok-kyu, Odin Thiago Holm and a few others.
Ultimately, none of them ended up becoming regular starters for the club. In fact, some never even looked like the right fit for the brand of football that Rodgers wants his teams to play, leading to question marks about his involvement in the signings.
Celtic have been heavily criticised for their lack of activity this summer. They have made a few additions, although it is questionable how much of an impact they will end up having.
Kieran Tierney and Benjamin Nygren look like good signings. But other than that, not much instant quality seems to have been added to the squad.
New Celtic signing already told he isn't part of Brendan Rodgers' plans
One of the new additions is Hayato Inamura, who has been brought in from Albirex Niigata. But Ryan McDonald does not believe that he is a part of Rodgers' plans at the moment. While speaking on the Record Celtic Podcast, the journalist said:
"It’s a toss of a coin with Tierney, or I think Scales at left-back. Inamura, it’s clear that he’s out of the picture. He is not going to be the left-back.
“He wasn’t even on the bench, was he? I think it’s clear that he’s not going to be part of Rodgers’ plans this year."
Some fans were pretty impressed with what they saw from Inamura in pre-season. But it appears that Rodgers might be happier having Liam Scales as the cover option at left-back right now.
As a result, it might be best to send Inamura out on loan this summer itself, which had always seemed like the plan. Then again, one has to question why such signings are being made at this point in time, when the Hoops clearly need to strengthen their first-team squad. They appear to be weaker right now, and significantly as well, than they were a year ago at this point in time.