Dermot Desmond and the rest of the board decided to go down a familiar route over the summer as they opted to bring Brendan Rodgers back to Celtic for a second spell.
The Hoops were in need of a new head coach after Australian tactician Ange Postecoglou departed to join Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur at the end of the 2022/23 campaign.
Rodgers left Leicester City earlier this year and was, therefore, available for the club to swoop for and he has enjoyed and endured a mixed start to his second stint in Glasgow.
The Bhoys are unbeaten in the Scottish Premiership with 11 wins and two draws from their opening 13 matches. However, they are also out of the League Cup after a 1-0 loss to Kilmarnock and are bottom of their Champions League group.
Their form has come off the back of a busy summer of transfer business as the Celtic boss was allowed to bring in nine new recruits; Marco Tilio, Hyeok-kyu Kwon, Hyun-jun Yang, Maik Nawrocki, Gustaf Lagerbielke, Odin Thiago Holm, Paulo Bernardo, Luis Palma, and Nat Phillips.
One of those signings has yet to kick a ball for the Scottish giants in a competitive match, though, and his future has now come into question ahead of the January transfer window.
Celtic transfer news – Marco Tilio
According to a recent report from the Daily Record, Tilio may consider a move away from Parkhead on a temporary basis ahead of the second half of the season.
The outlet claimed that the winger could secure a loan move to find regular game time in the first half of 2024 after a troubled start to life in Scotland.
After being signed before Rodgers arrived in Glasgow, the Australia international dealt with an issue and the Northern Irish boss confirmed that he would miss the start of the season.
However, the ex-Foxes chief did add that Tilio is an "exciting" player and this may have given supporters something to look forward to over the coming weeks. Yet, over four months on from those comments and the forward is yet to make his first-team debut for the Hoops.
A loan exit from Parkhead should not be on the cards for the talented ace, though, as a possible exit for Daizen Maeda could open the door for him to break into the side.
TEAMtalk reported in September that Tottenham are keeping close tabs on the Japan international ahead of a potential swoop to reunite him with Postecoglou in January.
The outlet claimed that it could take a fee of around £25m – the figure they recieved from Al Ittihad for Jota – in order to tempt Celtic into parting ways with him and it remains to be seen whether or not any clubs are willing to pay that.
If Maeda does leave, though, then Rodgers may already have the dream heir to his position in the team in Tilio, who he could unearth as an excellent option on the flanks.
Maeda's season in numbers
The 26-year-old whiz has not enjoyed a phenomenal start to the campaign and raking in £25m for him would represent a masterclass from the Hoops.
Maeda has only contributed with two goals and two assists in 12 Premiership appearances so far this season, which is an average of one goal involvement every three matches.
For context, Jota, who was sold for £25m and is two years younger, managed an eye-catching 11 goals and 11 assists in 33 league outings for the Scottish giants last season – one contribution every 1.5 games on average.
This suggests that Spurs, or any other side, would be overpaying to land the Japanese forward as he is older than the Portuguese whiz and affects games far less frequently as a wide player.
Maeda, who scored eight goals and provided five assists in 35 Premiership matches during the 2022/23 campaign, has also struggled at Champions League level.
Since the start of last season, the right-footed ace has played ten matches in Europe's premier cup competition and contributed with zero goals and one assist. He has missed three 'big chances' and only created one 'big chance' for his teammates during that period.
These statistics suggest that Maeda is not able to influence games with goals, assists or 'big chances' created on a regular basis – certainly not as regularly as Jota was able to do with the same price tag.
The statistics that show why Tilio could be Maeda's heir
Signed from Melbourne City for £1.5m, Tilio's form for his former club over the past two seasons indicates that he has the potential to come in as an upgrade on the Japan international if he does move on in January.
The 22-year-old wizard burst onto the scene as a regular contributor for his side during the 2021/22 campaign as he showcased his attacking quality as a scorer and a creator of goals.
Tilio ended that season with a return of five goals, five assists, and nine 'big chances' created, in 13 A-League starts and 24 appearances in total.
His nine 'big chances' provided and 1.6 key passes per game for his teammates suggest that the Australian ace deserved more than five assists to his name and proved that he has the quality to frequently open up opposition defences.
The left-footed gem, who was once compared to Manchester City and England star Phil Foden by talent scout Jacek Kulig, followed that up with a terrific 2022/23 campaign.
Tilio plundered an impressive ten goals and five assists in 29 A-League outings for Melbourne City, alongside winning two penalties for his side, and was then snapped up by Celtic.
The 5 foot 7 Hoops outcast, who was once hailed as a "phenomenal" talent by A-League striker Bruce Djite, has not had the opportunity to show whether or not he can translate that form over to Scottish football this season.
His return of one goal or assist every 1.93 matches last term for Melbourne is far more impressive than Maeda's aforementioned statistics out wide this term, which is why he could emerge as a dream heir for the Spurs target during the second half of the season.