Celtic are heading for a major club v country collision after Yang Hyun-jun was named in South Korea's Olympic squad for the Asian Under 23s Cup next month...just days after their manager hinted he wouldn't include him.
And he could be set to miss several pre and post-split fixtures in the crucial title run-in...if he plays.
Celtic are under no obligation to release Yang because the Asian Under 23s Cup, where South Korea will play against UAE, China and Japan in Qatar in the group stages are not on official FIFA dates.
And South Korean Under 23s manager Hwang Sun-hong - who was also caretaker boss for the full team for their World Cup qualifiers this month - appeared resigned to Yang and his other European-based players missing out earlier this week.
He said: "The Olympic qualifying tournament will be a difficult one. We'll have to be prepared for that. If we don't get our European-based players, we will have to come up with a Plan B."
However, despite that statement, he has now named Yang in his 23-man squad with no players on standby and clearly expects the Hoops talent to be there.
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South Korea's home-based squad will meet up this week, but it's unclear when he expects his overseas players - Yang, Stoke City midfielder Bae Jun-ho, Brentford defender Kim Ji-soo, Minnesota United midfielder Jeong Sang-bin, and Fortuna Dusseldorf midfielder Kim Min-woo - to attend their training camp.
Assuming, he would want to prepare at the very least for at least a week ahead of their first game on April 16, Yang could potentially miss St Mirren at home, Aberdeen away and several post-split games depending on how far they get, with the final not until May 3.
The top three nations qualify for the Paris Olympics in July and August.
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