Celtic’s plan this summer should very be centred around exorcising the older players from the squad and bringing younger ones to Parkhead.
The likes of Scott Brown and Callum McGregor have proven to be liabilities at times this season while the experienced Vasilis Barkas has hardly pulled up trees either.
The Greek stopper fell down the pecking order quickly after his £4.5m deal and now hasn’t played since January, a 2-2 draw with Livingston.
That being said, the Hoops would be foolish to completely forget about experienced heads. After all, they will need a few helping hands when it comes to blooding the reserve players.
One player who could help achieve that is James Forrest.
The Scotland international will be 30 by the time the new season arrives but he is still vitally important to Celtic.
He has missed a great deal of the current campaign with injury but showed what a huge absence he’d been when he returned.
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Forrest scored in the 6-0 rout of Livi last month and then found the net in the Scottish Cup against Falkirk too.
If the new manager has any sense then he’ll be front and centre of Celtic’s rebuild. He did score 16 goals and register 22 assists last term after all.
Their attack could be a vibrant one next year if they add Celtic-linked Xherdan Shaqiri to their ranks too. With the 89-cap Switzerland international on one wing and Forrest on the other, it has the potential to be an exhilarating front line.
Similarly to the Scot, Shaqiri has creativity in abundance and has technique that could frighten the life out of Premiership defences. He is quick-footed and has a marvellous football brain, something that’s earned him spells with Bayern Munich, Inter Milan and Liverpool.
His 1.3 key passes per match for the Reds this season are only bettered by four players in the entire Celtic squad.
Speaking about what sets him apart, The Athletic’s Liverpool correspondent James Pearce commented: “I absolutely love watching him. He’s just a real rare breed, isn’t he? With that ability to create something out of nothing, just incredible intelligence as well as the breathtaking technique.”
Some of the things Shaqiri can engineer when the ball is at his feet are truly mesmerising. He once scored an overhead kick for Liverpool in pre-season, repeating a feat he had the audacity to successfully pull off at Euro 2016.
If an opportunity to sign him becomes available, Celtic must grasp it with both hands. His expertise could be valuable in bringing through the next generation at Paradise.