Celtic face a significant squad challenge after winger Hyun-jun Yang departed for international duty at the Asian Games with South Korea.
Yang will miss four consecutive competitive matches for the club, including a high-stakes Glasgow derby scheduled for next weekend.
The timing is particularly frustrating for manager Martin O’Neill, given Yang scored the winning goal away at St Mirren on Saturday in the Scottish Premiership.
The South Korean has now scored two goals in his last two top-flight matches, making his absence all the more costly for Celtic’s attacking options.
The obvious replacement on the left wing, Sebastian Tounekti, has struggled badly for form and has gone 15 matches without a Premiership goal, with his last strike in the division coming in a 3-2 win over Kilmarnock back in February.
The Tunisia international came off the bench against St Mirren and missed a one-on-one opportunity, rolling the ball wide of the post while also failing to complete either of his attempted dribbles.
Tounekti’s numbers across the 2025/26 Premiership campaign reinforce the concern, with the 24-year-old averaging more completed dribbles per game at 1.6 than key passes at 1.4.
By contrast, Yang has scored ten goals and created seven big chances in the Premiership since the start of last season, demonstrating far greater end product and attacking impact.
O’Neill is therefore being urged to look beyond Tounekti for solutions, with Chelsea loanee Shim Mheuka emerging as a genuinely compelling alternative option on the left flank.
The 18-year-old joined Celtic on a season-long loan from Premier League club Chelsea towards the end of the summer transfer window and has already caught the eye of supporters in his brief appearances.
Mheuka has come on as a substitute in each of the last two Premiership matches, playing as a centre-forward in place of Camilo Duran, and was desperately unlucky not to score against St Mirren.
The teenager raced through on goal and slotted the ball past the goalkeeper at the near post, only for the referee to be called over to VAR, which ultimately produced a contentious offside ruling against him.
Mheuka was described as “outrageous” by U23 scout Antonio Mango, and his natural goalscoring instincts make him an intriguing candidate to deputise on the wing rather than through the middle.
With Kasper Hogh due to return from injury soon, competition for the central striking role will increase, making a wide berth a realistic pathway into the starting lineup for the Chelsea loanee.
Mheuka has experience playing out wide at youth level and is right-footed, which means cutting inside from the left flank would suit his natural tendencies as a goalscoring threat.
His career record at youth level underlines his clinical ability, having scored 25 goals in 49 appearances for Chelsea Under-21s and 16 goals in 27 appearances at Under-18 level.
Celtic right winger Haissem Hassan attempted nine crosses and created one big chance in the victory over St Mirren, whipping in one delivery to the back post that Yang failed to convert from close range.
Having Mheuka attack those inswinging deliveries from the Egypt international on the opposite flank could provide Celtic with a different and more dangerous dimension in the final third.
Unlike Tounekti, Mheuka would not be expected to beat defenders on the dribble, instead focusing on intelligent movement to get into goalscoring positions and support Duran or Hogh centrally.
Deploying the Chelsea loanee in a new role across the next four matches could prove to be the smartest way for O’Neill to navigate Yang’s absence without relying on the underperforming Tounekti.