Celtic’s mass exodus.

A look at who’s leaving.

Regardless of who and what combination of staff are in the dugout, come the opening day of next season, one thing is certain; the team will look a lot different to the one we just watched.

There is, due to a combination of reasons, namely incompetence, set to be a mass exodus of playing staff come this summer. An organic changing of the guard due to contract lengths, squad numbers and maybe even retirement. In some cases, it’s just time to call it a day.

A cursory look at the squad list suggests a natural cull will be achieved quite easily. Schmeichel has confirmed his retirement. Kelechi Iheanacho’s contract expires, as does Alex Oxlaide – Chamberlain’s. Marcelo Saracci, Tomas Cvancara, Julian Aroujo, Junior Adamu, Benjamin Arthur and Mvuka’s – who has made such an impact I can’t remember his first name – loan spells at the club will be concluded.

That’s 11 already.

Next up is the large diaspora of loans we have sprinkled across other leagues. The likes of Luis Palma, Maik Nawrocki, Jonny Kenny are still employed by the club but whether they have a future here is doubtful. Palmaand Kenny will most likely have options and may represent a low hanging opportunity to pick up a small fee. Whilst it makes little tangible difference, Inamura and Shin Yamada will be allowed to leave for nominal fees on return from loan spells in Japan and Germany respectively. Stephen Welsh will also return from loan at Motherwell, just in time for his contract to expire.

Before we get to the conjecture about who’s not deserving to play for Celtic there’s the normal churn which affects us every summer.

A fair portion of the vast fortune that the club have accumulated can be attributed to player sales. Every summer – almost without fail – wesell a prize asset. Any club with a logical plan concomitant with improving, would use this windfall to fund the signing of players, whether the object be to add quantity, quality or ideally both. Despite the vacuum of talent at club currently, that will still be the case.

The flagship offering this summer will be Arne Engels. The club would have been besides themselves rejecting an offer worth £25million for our record signing in January. Their lack of foresight left them next to no option, or no time to source a replacement. They will be eager to attract more bids this summer, and it appears likely there will be sufficient suitors for the 22-year-old.

Daizen Maeda could and should have left last summer. The locker was cleared and he had said his goodbyes. Again, the club’s inability to build a sufficient roster of players made this inviable at the time. Whilst he hasn’t been able to reach the same heights of the previous campaign, he will still command a decent fee. This move seems almost naturally beneficial for all parties. His time is up as a Celtic player.

The same goes for Reo Hatate, who has never veiled his desire to play elsewhere. The departure of these two will signify an end of the club’s most recent period of dominance. Having both joined in January 2022 at the behest of Ange Postecoglou, they have played a significant part in the all-encompassing, domestic success of the last four seasons. A fifth successive title was the perfect way to bookend this last half decade and round off what may be referred to – in future years - as the Japanese chapter, in the club’s history.

Paulo Bernardo has failed to impress any of the incumbents of the Celtic managerial position this season. His future rests elsewhere, having never managed to live up to his latent potential.

Murmurings of Callum McGregor being lured to Saudi Arabia, by Brendan Rodgers persists. The idea of Celtic minus these two seems abstract. In McGregor’s case it would be an abrupt and premature ending giving his importance to the team on the pitch, and the esteem in which he is held at the club in general. Many have suggested he looks spent, but it is hard to judge the individual, in such a dysfunctional collective. For me, he has built more than enough credit to get another shot at it.

Has anyone been counting?

There’s a lot of work to be done to build another successful squad. These departures will further expedite what is already a monumental job. The great refresh is what’s been needed for a while; not merely to replenish an ageing squad, but to refresh the hunger and motivation of the squad. Ultimately, new heroes are needed.

Unfortunately, the currently stewardship of the club is not serviceable. It would be wildly optimistic to have any confidence in the club to deliver this, over and above, hiring a new manager and coaching staff.

Stay well stretched and hydrated folks, you might have to pull those boots out the cupboard.