Why Celtic’s £17m transfer pursuit is bad news for Yang

New Celtic centre-forward Kasper Hogh announced himself to the supporters with a stunning first-half hat-trick in the Scottish Premiership on Sunday.

The Denmark international joined from Bodo/Glimt for a fee in excess of £11m and missed two ‘big chances’ on his debut against Dundee last week.

He made up for that shaky debut, however, with three goals in the opening 35 minutes against Kilmarnock, scoring two headers and one cultured finish into the bottom corner.

Whilst the 25-year-old marksman caught the eye with his phenomenal display, one of Celtic’s attacker failed to make the most of the team’s dominance in the match, as Hyun-jun Yang struggled to make an impact.

Why Celtic need to replace Hyun-jun Yang

The South Korea international was the only member of the starting front four who did not register a goal contribution, as Hogh scored three goals, Benjamin Nygren supplied a goal and an assist, and Camilo Duran provided an assist.

Yang was typically deployed on the right side of the frontline throughout the 2025/26 campaign by Martin O’Neill, but he has started the first two games of this season on the left.

The 24-year-old winger was given an opportunity to move over to the right after Duran was substituted in the second half, although he still failed to make an impact at the top end of the pitch after that switch.

Yang has not created a single ‘big chance’ for his teammates or scored a goal in the first two matches, despite starting both games and the team scoring seven goals and creating 13 ‘big chances’ in that time.

His lack of impact in front of goal, after also failing to reach double figures for goals in each of his first three seasons at Parkhead, is why the club need to replace him as a starter before the end of the window.

Celtic’s pursuit of £17m star is bad news for Hyun-jun Yang

The South Korean forward should now be concerned because the club are eyeing up a player who would arrive as a much better option for O’Neill on the flanks.

Tutto Mercato Web reports that Celtic are one of the teams in the race to sign Frosinone forward Fares Ghedjemis before the end of the summer transfer window.

The outlet claims that the Hoops have already made an offer for the Algeria international, whilst adding that Rangers then had a bid of £8.5m turned down by the Italian side.

It adds that the right winger, who is also being eyed up by Monaco, will only be allowed to leave for a fee of around £17m, which would eclipse the £11m club-record fee that the Scottish giants recently paid for Hogh.

The Hoops should now be pushing hard to agree the best possible deal for Ghedjemis, whether that is a club-record fee or they find a way to bring him in for less, because he would be a top-quality addition to the attack.

Yang’s performances last season and in the first two games of the new campaign suggest that Celtic need a high-quality winger who can deliver consistently to take his place in the starting line-up.

Ghedjemis’ form for Frosinone in their promotion-winning season in the Serie B last term suggests that he has the potential to offer considerably more to the team at the top end of the pitch.

The Algerian star scored more goals for the Italian side last year than Yang has ever managed in a single campaign in his career, which speaks to the gulf in class between the two players when it comes to scoring goals.

It is not just goalscoring that the £17m-rated star has the edge over the Celtic forward with, though, as the former Gangwon winger has never created more than six ‘big chances’ in a season.

That suggests that Ghedjemis’ 11 ‘big chances’ created for Frosinone last term mean that he could also be even more creative than the Hoops wide player if he makes the move to Parkhead before the end of the window.

Therefore, the club’s interest in the winger and their pursuit of his services should come as bad news for Yang, who could find himself struggling for minutes.

Ghedjemis, who can play on either flank, could come in to take the Celtic forward’s place in the team, possibly leaving him and Duran as the starting wide players for O’Neill, but it still remains to be seen whether or not the club are prepared to get near the asking price.