The talented maestro has caught the eye since moving south of the border over the summer.
Celtic were able to head into the international break on the back of a win as they convincingly demolished Aberdeen 6-0 in the Scottish Premiership on Sunday.
Brendan Rodgers’ side were coming off a 6-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid in the Champions League earlier in the week and bounced back to secure an emphatic victory against the Dons.
It was a special match for summer signing Hyun-jun Yang as the South Korean winger notched his first goal in the famous green and white with a composed header from Luis Palma’s cross to make it 1-0 inside the opening ten minutes.
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The 21-year-old dynamo has not enjoyed a seamless transition to Scottish football and it is interesting to see how he has fared in comparison to a player they allowed to leave on loan ahead of the 2023/24 campaign – Sead Haksabanovic.
Rodgers allowed the 24-year-old maestro to join English Championship side Stoke City on loan for the season and he has had a solid start to life with the Potters.
The Montenegro international has produced one goal and two assists in five league starts Alex Neil’s side and caught the eye with his attacking contributions from a midfield or wide position.
As you can see in the table above, the Celtic loanee has provided a creative presence with his ability to consistently beat opposition players with the ball whilst also being able to provide a key pass for his teammates in the final third.
The 5 foot 9 wizard, who was once lauded as a “little diamond” by ex-coach Jan Jonsson, was loaned out after a return of five goals, two assists, and six ‘big chances’ created in 26 Premiership appearances and eight starts last term.
Hyun-jun Yang’s season in numbers
Some may now question the decision to loan out Haksabanovic and sign Yang as the Stoke star has produced more goals and assists combined (three) than the South Korean starlet (two) has managed for Celtic so far.
It was a nice moment for him to score his first goal of the season against Aberdeen as, before that match, he had only produced one assist in ten Premiership outings.
This means that Yang has scored one goal and assisted one in 11 league matches for the Hoops since his summer transfer, whilst the young forward has zero goals and zero assists in three Champions League games alongside that.
However, the former West Ham man has more goal contributions and has created more chances for his teammates in fewer appearances so far.
Hopefully, Yang will now use his goal against Aberdeen as a springboard to go on and hit his stride in a Celtic shirt to prove that they made the right decision to replace Haksabanovic with him over the summer.
