Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has this afternoon confirmed his plans for the third-striker spot within his squad.
The Parkhead boss was keen to give academy prospect Rocco Vata the role of being backup to Kyogo Furuhashi and Adam Idah but he thought the grass was greener at English Championship outfit Watford.
Rodgers then faced a dilemma over whether to delve into the market for someone to take the role Vata would have assumed, or to promote from within and utilise what he has. The Irishman has opted for the latter.
Speaking at Lennoxtown today, the boss admitted that after his brace last weekend, Daizen Maeda will be the third-choice centre-forward for 2024/25.
Rodgers said the club could still recruit someone in said area, but that other positions have greater priority at the minute.
“He’s (Maeda) played for me as a striker”, he told CeltsAreHere.
“With the two guys we have (Kyogo and Idah), I’m fairly comfortable that if I needed a third one, I can put him there and he’ll do the job.
“My feeling in the summer was probably more around a younger player. I wanted the younger player to be someone from within our academy, so that didn’t quite work out.
“We could go into the market and maybe get a younger one from somewhere, but the reality is our priorities are elsewhere.”
One wonders whether things could have been different regarding the third striker had Celtic got more business done by now, but Maeda is an adept deputy.
He has proven his quality as a centre-forward before and can step up to the plate if needed in future.
