Twist: Celtic star Rocco Vata may be able to help Hoops land a new number nine.

The youngster appears to be on his way out, but could there be a major twist?

Celtic appear to be using the January transfer window to offload several fringe players, but the departure of one highly-rated player could now lead to the signing of a new striker.

Celtic exits take precedence.

Brendan Rodgers has made no secret of his desire to trim his squad as much as possible in order to streamline his options following the Scottish Premiership winter break.

According to The Scotsman, the Irishman explained why he is willing to offload some of his fringe players in a recent interview, saying: You have to for multiple reasons (offload fringe players), for the players themselves and for their football careers, they need to play. For financial reasons, you can’t be carrying numbers of players each month who aren’t contributing. It then allows us the opportunity to bring players in. That’s just a natural process.”

Celtic announced via their official channels on Tuesday that forgotten man Yosuke Ideguchi has joined Japanese giants Vissel Kobe on a permanent basis, and he is unlikely to be the last to leave the building in the coming weeks.

Yosuke Ideguchi has today joined J.League Champions, @visselkobe on a permanent transfer.

Best of luck, Yosuke! 🍀 pic.twitter.com/GyISkx307T

— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) January 9, 2024

Summer commitment Genoa and Lecce are among the clubs interested in Gustaf Lagerbielke. Simultaneously, Benjamin Siegrist, Alexandro Bernabei, Kwon Hyeok-kyu, and Marco Tilio could all be part of a Parkhead cost-cutting operation before the window closes.

A new report claims that another Celtic player has been granted permission to speak to another club as Rodgers continues to clear out the east end of Glasgow.

Rocco Vata may form a Bologna swap agreement.

Sky Sports News reporter Anthony Joseph revealed on social media platform X that Celtic have given youngster Rocco Vata permission to speak to Bologna about a move, and the Serie A club is looking into both a permanent transfer this month and a pre-contract agreement.

UPDATE: Celtic have granted Bologna permission to speak to forward Rocco Vata.

Talks are now ongoing.

The Serie A club are exploring a permanent transfer in this window, as well as a pre-contract agreement. https://t.co/GmkWyVWqeS pic.twitter.com/IHhKaAi7ZX

— Anthony Joseph (@AnthonyRJoseph) January 10, 2024

This season, the Republic of Ireland Under-21 international has played with the Hoops’ B team and has scored 13 goals in 20 appearances across all competitions (Vata statistics – Transfermarkt).
According to Scottish reporter Scott Burns, the Glasgow giants have not offered Vata a new contract despite his current terms expiring later this year, and it now appears that the 18-year-old could move on to greener pastures after appearing only four times for Celtic’s senior side.

According to Sport Witness, reports from Italy claim that Bologna may try to use striker Sydney van Hooijdonk as a “pawn” in negotiations to “unblock the operation” amid Rodgers’ rumoured interest in the Dutchman, who is the son of club icon Pierre van Hooijdonk.

With Celtic looking for a striker, the 23-year-old’s 92 goals in 196 games would likely be appealing, especially given Oh Hyeon-gyu and Daizen Maeda’s absence due to Asian Cup commitments.