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Daily Record
Daily Record
Sport
Ben Banks

John Kennedy claims no Celtic dismay in Parkhead departure lounge as alternate Giakoumakis replacement plan explained

John Kennedy says Celtic have an ideal system to cope with the loss of big name exits from their squad.

The assistant manager has been by the side of boss Ange Postecoglou throughout his season and-a-half in Glasgow, where the likes of Odsonne Edouard, Kristoffer Ajer and Ryan Christie departed in his first summer. Another important duo have also now left the club, Josip Juranovic moving to Union Berlin while Atlanta United signed Giorgos Giakoumakis.

Alistair Johnston has arrived to replace Juranovic while their former Greek forward's place has been filled by South Korean forward Oh. And Kennedy says the constant process of identifying new talent to upgrade talent is a big part of their success, with Celtic current Premiership champions and nine points clear in this title. He said: "I think the manager has said many times that he wants a squad full of players committed to the project and the club. Along the way it happens, players will come in and move out. If players maybe see their careers moving in a different path or aren't not getting as much game time and have a problem with that, the manager has said we will come to try and find a solution.

"Both of those players made big impacts and were really good guys to work with. We had no issues with that, it happens in football.

"Players move on. But the most important thing is we bring in more quality again that can maintain or improve the standards we already have in terms of the squad.

Giakoumakis leaves Kyogo as Celtic's main striker, while Oh has been brought in as the Greek forward's void filler. They could carry more out and out players down the middle, but Kennedy has hinted at a Daizen Maeda - who's played on the flanks at Parkhead - deputy plan.

When asked if they are light in the striker department and whether others can fill the boots, Kennedy replied: "I think we are strong. A lot of teams maybe carry more natural strikers and day on day we can see Oh getting stronger.

"He's different from Kyogo and we also have Daizen who can play from the central area if need be. We are where we are at the moment and it's up to us to make sure we get the best out them for the rest of the season.

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