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Scottish giants Celtic have made some exciting additions to their talented playing squad so far during the summer transfer window.
Who have Celtic signed this summer?
Brendan Rodgers, who replaced Ange Postecoglou in the dugout last month, has officially completed the signings of Marco Tilio and Odin Thiago Holm
The Hoops are also reportedly set to add £2m-rated Hyun-jun Yang and Hyeok-kyu Kwon to their roster as the pair are on the verge of their respective moves to the club.
One of those players – Yang – has been sensationally tipped, by Gangwon president Byung-ji Kim, to potentially become “world class” in the future “like Son Heung-min”.
The Northern Irish tactician has proven himself to be capable of playing a huge role in the development of such a talent, with Raheem Sterling possibly being the best example.
Now at Chelsea, the England international had only made three first-team appearances for Liverpool as a teenager prior to Rodgers’ appointment in 2012.
The 50-year-old boss worked with the exciting young talent and placed his faith in the winger’s ability alongside the likes of Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez for the Reds.
Sterling racked up 23 goals and 25 assists in 126 competitive matches under Rodgers’ management, which earned him a £49m move to Manchester City in the summer of 2015.
He went on to directly contribute to 226 goals (131 goals and 95 assists) in 339 games for the Cityzens. In that time, the “world-class” – as he was dubbed by England legend Frank Lampard in 2020 – forward won five Premier League titles, four League Cups, and one FA Cup.
Rodgers could now unearth his next version of Sterling by working with Yang at Parkhead over the coming years to unearth the potential that Kim sees in him.
How many goals did Hyun-jun Yang score for Gangwon?
The 21-year-old Gangwon winger, who is capable of being deployed on the left or the right, scored nine goals across 71 competitive matches for the South Korean club and his form throughout 2022 suggests that he could be an excellent option for the Bhoys.
Yang racked up eight goals and five assists in 33 K League 1 starts, which works out as a direct contribution every 2.54 games on average. Meanwhile, only Liel Abada (ten), Jota (11) – who has since departed – and Kyogo Furuhashi (27) scored more league goals for Celtic last term.
This is a slight improvement on Sterling’s return of a goal or assist every 2.62 outings under Rodgers during their time together at Anfield at the start of his career.
The South Korea U23 international also created six ‘big chances’ for his teammates in 2022 – as many as current Hoops left winger Daizen Maeda managed in 35 Scottish Premiership appearances last season.
These statistics indicate that the ability is there for Yang to provide quality as a scorer and creator of goals from a wide position, if he is able to translate that form from 2022 over to Scottish football next season.
However, it is down to the exciting whiz and Rodgers to work together to help him to fulfill his potential over the years to come, as the ex-Liverpool boss did with Sterling, in order to make Kim’s “world class” prediction a reality.