Brendan Rodgers has a new striker at the top of his wish list as he paid a glowing tribute to departed star man Kyogo.
The Japan international has completed his move to Rennes as he takes on a fresh challenge in Ligue 1. As that move went through and the fans lost a favourite, they gained another as Jota completed a stunning return from the same club – just 18 months after his huge money move to the Saudi Pro League. Ahead of facing Aston Villa in the Champions League, Rodgers confirmed Kieran Tierney will return on a pre-contract from Arsenal as they look to now get the deal done before the deadline.
But a striker is top of the agenda with lots of work going on behind the scenes to make that happen. Rodgers also broke his silence on winger Sondre Orjaeseter by confirming he was ‘not aware’ of any reported bid while he also confirmed Cameron Carter-Vickers will sit out the Battle of Britain clash at Villa Park – but will be fine to return for the domestic action at the weekend.
He said: “Well, clearly, he’s been a real iconic player for the club. He’s done absolutely brilliantly in his time here, so yes, it’s about getting a replacement. I think that’s made clear.
“He’s a player that’s done a great job, but he probably wanted to leave. We have to move on from that and we have to look to the next player to come in.”
Asked if he was confident that would happen, Rodgers added: “Yes. Well, there’s a lot of work going on behind the scenes. Like I said, we’ve known for a number of months of what he was going to look like. Clearly, we wouldn’t have wanted to have sold him, certainly not at this point.
“But he made it clear he wanted to move and when that’s the case, then we have to find the best solution for the club. And the club will work very hard and we’ll look to get an able replacement.”
He added: “Yeah, Cameron is out for the game. He’ll be okay for the weekend, we’re pretty sure. But he just felt something in the last game, so no need to risk him. James Forrest is still out, but apart from that we’re okay.”
Alex Valle is back at Barcelona and looks ready for a new loan challenge in Italy with Como. Asked if the departure of the left-back could speed up a return for Celtic diehard Tierney, Rodgers said: “Ideally, it would. But at this moment he’s still an Arsenal player.
“So I think everyone is agreed that will definitely take place in the summer. If we can do it beforehand, then great.
“I don’t know. I think that, like I said, we’d prepared that for the summer. And I don’t want to speak too much on it, with the greatest respect, because he’s not a Celtic player here now with us. But, if we were able to do it, of course we would like to do that. But that’s out of our control at this moment in time.”
Rodgers confirmed that Valle won’t play for Celtic again with the defender set to move to Serie A. He explained: “Alex won’t play again, sadly. He’s in Barcelona at the moment and he will probably then move onto another team.
“So, again, he’s another young player that’s contributed really well for us. He played nearly 20 appearances for us. He played in some very important games. He made his Champions League debut. Especially in Atalanta, he was fantastic.
“He played in really important games. So, we’re disappointed that he’s left. But we have to move on.”