Brendan Rodgers publicly praises rival striker amid Celtic links

Celtic need to sign a striker in the January transfer window. That will come as news to anyone who has been following the club in recent months. Kyogo has failed to deliver in front of goal this time around, as Brendan Rodgers replacing Ange Postecoglou as manager appears to have had a negative impact on the Japanese forward's game.

Oh Hyeon-gyu has made some positive contributions. But overall, he is not consistent enough to be the main striker for Celtic either.

Add to that the fact that the AFC Asian Cup is starting next month. Oh has already been selected to represent the South Korean national team. And it is very possible that Kyogo could be named in the Japan squad.

Naturally, Celtic have been linked with plenty of strikers recently. And the links to Hearts captain, Lawrence Shankland, are picking up some momentum lately, with the Scottish international in fantastic form.

Rodgers publicly praises rival striker amid Celtic links

Rodgers had some praise for Shankland recently as well. As reported by The Celtic Way, talking about the Hearts captain's winner against Hibernian, the manager said:

"I think it was a great goal by Lawrence Shankland, to be fair, he's a fantastic finisher. It was great for them."

Shankland is without a doubt one of the best strikers in Scotland. According to stats from Transfermarkt, he has scored 16 goals and provided 3 assists in 26 appearances this season so far.

He is scoring at all levels as well. Shankland has scored against both Celtic and the Rangers this season. He also found the back of the net three times in the UEFA Europa Conference League qualifiers.

Someone like Shankland could be a solid addition to this Celtic team. The added advantage to signing a player like him is that he already has experience of playing in the Premiership and should not need time to adjust.

This is not the first time Celtic have been linked with Shankland either. They were rumoured to hold an interest in him back in his Dundee United days.