Former Rangers full-back, Alan Hutton, claims that Jeremie Frimpong may not be around next season given the impact he has made since breaking in to the first-team at Parkhead.
Speaking to Football Insider, the retired Scotland international turned pundit fears that Celtic could be a victim of their own success.
So what has Hutton said?
When asked about potential interest in the Dutch youth international, Hutton said:
“There will be people round about keeping an eye on Frimpong, for sure. He’s exciting to watch and that’s what fans want.
“From the outside looking in, a player who’s playing in my position, it’s good to see players like that – attacking, no fear going forward and getting back, setting up goals.
“He’s definitely one for the future, he’s very, very young, an exciting talent who’s only going to get better.”
And when he was asked if the flying youngster will be around for next term, Hutton replied: “He may not, no.”
So is Hutton correct?
Absolutely, whether Celtic fans like it or not and regardless of the historical importance of next season, every player has their price.
If you consider recent speculation involving Odsonne Edouard, Kristoffer Ajer and Jeremie Frimpong, you have three players bought for a combined £10million – give or take – and they have been linked with moves for upwards of £80m combined. No board is going to turn down that sort of profit.
Neil Lennon would be able to source replacements and still have plenty of change left over if the sums being mentioned are reached, in Frimpong’s case, he has only made 19 appearances and both James Forrest and Hatem Abd Elhamed are more experienced in the right wing-back and right-back roles respectively, he is far from irreplaceable regardless of his popularity.
Nick Hammond and potential new Chief Scout, Gary Penrice, will be the men tasked with identifying new targets for 2020/21 so that the conveyor belt of success continues as the Hoops look to maintain the dominance of Scottish football, regardless of who stays and who goes.