Kyogo Furuhashi would be out for up to four months if he decides to go ahead with surgery to solve his ongoing shoulder issue, with Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers leaving the decision down to his player.
The striker sat out of the League Cup win over Hibernian after being forced off against the same opposition at Easter Road last weekend with a reoccurrence of the troublesome shoulder problem that has plagued him intermittently throughout his career.
Rodgers is hopeful that Kyogo can continue to manage the issue as he has done throughout his playing days, and that any absences from the Celtic side because of it will be minimal, but conceded it won’t ever be fixed completely unless the forward goes under the knife.
“He could have surgery, but it takes him out for probably about four months,” Rodgers said.
“It’s only him that can decide that. Because you see a lot of times he gets through games fine. But then times he'll fall, maybe it'll be awkward, and he has an irritation.
“But listen, he's a 29-year-old man now, so he'll understand what he wants to do. But again, he's managed it for a longer period, much longer than he's been at Celtic.
“I gave him the time. We could have had him back into the [Hibs] game, but I gave him the time to miss the game and then I'll speak to him [on Monday].
“I believe it's something he's had in Japan where he's just managing a shoulder issue and from time to time it gets a little bit irritable and a little bit sore.
“I know Daizen (Maeda) can play as a striker. I've said it before, he's played in the World Cup as a striker, so he should be able to play for Celtic as a striker if you need him.
“We just gave him [Kyogo] that rest and I'll see how he is tomorrow.”
Maeda scored a double as he deputised for Kyogo through the middle, with Adam Idah coming off the bench in the second half to make his second debut for the club after signing a permanent deal during the week.
Rodgers still wants to add to his attacking options, but takes comfort from knowing he can also rely on Maeda to spearhead the Celtic frontline if required.
“The last time he played as a striker for me, he scored a hat-trick in Yokohama [in a 6-4 friendly win over Yokohama F. Marinos in July last year] and they were all fantastic goals,” he said.
“If you look at his instinct at the goals - the first one getting to the first post to finish and then the run in behind to penetrate the space, which is what I always want in my strikers.
“So, I know that he can play there, but I know his best position, or his favourite position, is on the side.
“I'm looking at the players that are here now that are working so well with a great focus and very clear on what they're doing.
“And we want to add to it and hopefully, and I'm sure we will do, over the next couple of weeks.”
