With Ange Postecoglou finally through the door, Celtic can finally begin preparing for next season.
It will be a pivotal summer for the Hoops who need to get things spot on if they’re to challenge for the title in 2020/21.
On the chalkboard
One of the biggest difficulties the Bhoys had last term was in wide areas.
Mohamed Elyounoussi may have scored 17 goals in all competitions but that was through a combination of playing on the flanks and in central areas.
James Forrest spent the vast majority of the campaign out injured and didn’t return properly until the final months of the season.
Combine Neil Lennon and John Kennedy’s reluctance to play Karamoko Dembele with Ryan Christie’s arduous campaign and it never looked like a recipe for success.
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Dembele netted his first senior goal on the penultimate weekend but Christie struggled to replicate Forrest’s rampant energy in a wide area.
An attacking midfielder by nature, he was keen to drift inside and rarely got in behind the defence whilst playing in an unfavoured position. That culminated in a difficult term for the Scot who scored 13 fewer goals than in 2019/20.
The solution
As Celtic gear up for next term, they need a wide player capable of getting in behind and dominating the defence.
Postecoglou may find that in teenage sensation, Dembele, but Dominic McKay can give the Australian a helping hand with some shrewd activity in the transfer market.
One player who’s been on their radar for a while now is Bright Osayi-Samuel. He was linked with a move to Paradise at the end of 2020 but he eventually swapped Queens Park Rangers for Turkish outfit Fenerbahce in January.
That being said, his spell at Fener could already be coming to an end. Rangers have reportedly made a formal offer to sign the 23-year-old but their Old Firm rivals, Celtic, are also in the mix again, according to a separate source.
If they want to bring a direct winger to the club they’d find few better options in the summer market.
A rampaging ball of fun, Osayi-Samuel is capable of beating opponents all ends up on a regular basis.
Speaking about the attacker previously, QPR boss Mark Warburton commented: “I'm not sure many teams have that blistering pace. As long as he knows how to use it and that's the key for him learning the game.
"He's working so hard. He's got that sheer pace which terrifies defenders and when he uses it wisely like he did today he looks a real handful."
The Englishman only bagged four goals in all competitions last term but there are signs that he’s improving.
Throughout 2020/21, he completed 2.8 dribbles per game for the Rs which was significantly more than anybody in the green and white hoops. For context, Odsonne Edouard was Celtic’s top dribbler with 1.6 per match.
Capable of playing on the left or the right, he’d offer plenty to a Bhoys team who were lacking genuine pace on the flanks last season. McKay should push to get Osayi-Samuel to Celtic Park to add that pace to Postecoglou's squad.