Kwon emerges from Celtic shadows as forgotten man gets St Mirren loan chance after club 'very keen' to move him on

Hyeokkyu Kwon has been handed a chance to kickstart his career in Scotland with St Mirren.

The Korean arrived at Celtic in the summer but hasn't been seen since a pre-season friendly against Atletico Bilbao. His lack of competitive action has been used as an example of the Hoops' poor summer recruitment. But now he'll get the chance to show what he can do in black and white after joining the Buddies on loan until the end of the season.

Boss Stephen Robinson admits he's spoken in depth with Brendan Rodgers about Kwon and hopes he can fill the midfield void left by Keanu Baccus. He's currently on Asian Cup duty with Australia and will be missing for most of January and potentially beyond, depending on the Socceroos progress. "He’s a player that comes highly recommended. Celtic were very keen for him to come to us which is a compliment to the coaching staff here," said Robinson.

"He’s played a lot of games in South Korea and was signed by Celtic for big money. It was an area we needed to strengthen in midfield and with Keanu away at the Asian Cup it was important that we strengthened there.

"We believe that he will come in and add that strength. He breaks up play really well and he can start play really well for us as well. I’ve had some good conversations with Brendan Rodgers about him and we’re delighted to have him in."