It is entirely understandable that Brendan Rodgers would want to bring in a tried and trusted striker, a forward of proven quality, following the departure of Celtic hero Kyogo Furuhashi.
His team have just secured a play-off tie in the Champions League, after all, after six very creditable displays from seven matches in the competition so far.
Kyogo started six of them. Adam Idah may have played a part in forcing the winner against Young Boys during the week from the substitutes bench, but he is struggling to recapture the form he found during his loan spell at the club last season, and the goalscoring touch that persuaded Celtic to shell out north of £9m to sign him permanently in the summer.
There is nothing to suggest that Rodgers would trust Idah, in his current guise, to start a crucial Champions League game. He is likely to start at Villa Park in the final league phase match this week, but only because the only real viable alternative to Kyogo, Daizen Maeda, is suspended following his red card late on against Young Boys.
So, while Rodgers said on Friday that he was open to the deployment of Maeda through the middle – a role he has often performed in for the Japanese national team - when he returns from that enforced layoff, particularly with Jota’s imminent arrival to fill the gap he would leave on the left of the Celtic attack, he was also quick to add the caveat that he still wants a new body in to compensate for Kyogo’s departure.
The world class movement of the Japanese striker will be hard to replace. And Rodgers would be professionally negligent if he didn’t try. Brondby’s Mathias Kvistgaarden, Brighton’s Evan Ferguson, and even a potential return for former Celtic hero Moussa Dembele – now at El-Ettifaq in Saudi Arabia – have all been mooted as potential solutions.
With time running out in the transfer window though, Celtic shouldn’t be rushed into a panic signing. If they can their land long-term target, the exciting Kvistgaarden, that would be one thing. And a no brainer. But there may be a solution to their diminished attacking roster in the short term already within the building.
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For the Champions League, after the trip to Birmingham of course, a front three of Jota, Maeda and Nicolas Kuhn would be more than acceptable, with Idah in reserve. But with such a healthy lead in the Premiership, it would be good to see young prospect Daniel Cummings handed an opportunity to shine on the domestic front.
The 18-year-old has been in wonderful form for the Celtic youths, scoring 24 goals in 24 games, and six in six UEFA Youth League matches too. Of course, it is quite a jump from that level to the Celtic first team, but there has been a growing clamour to see more of the young prospect, and for a few reasons.
Firstly, for his own development. Exposure to first team football is vital if his progress isn’t to be stunted. It may also prevent the latest exciting young talent to come through the Celtic system ultimately slipping through their grasp.
Rodgers, of course, sees more of Cummings – and Johnny Kenny, for that matter - on a daily basis than anyone on the outside, and the manager won’t hand any player an opportunity if he feels he doesn’t deserve it.
But sometimes, you only know if a young player is up to it by throwing him in and seeing how he handles it.
I would argue, with Celtic having a game in hand and a 10-point lead on Rangers in the Premiership table, there would be little to lose and plenty to gain in playing Cummings in the forthcoming matches against Motherwell, Dundee and Raith Rovers – even from the bench – than loaning in a Ferguson or a Dembele as a short-term measure.
If not now, when?
