Sky Sports journalist Anthony Joseph believes Moritz Jenz was allowed to leave Celtic in January because of Ange Postecoglou’s concerns about his ability to play at the highest level.

The German was part of a Hoops’ defence that conceded 15 goals in six fixtures as the Hoops failed to pick up a win in their Champions League group, and Joseph believes the player’s departure was influenced by his poor performances in those matches:

“I thought he was doing okay, but as someone connected to the club told me, okay is not enough for Ange (Postecoglou). So he wants real quality, frailties were shown defensively in Europe this season despite some really good performances, I guess Ange feels he needs to be quite ruthless in terms of selection and recruitment to have any chance of competing in the Champions League.”

Joseph could be on to something with this theory. While Jenz did impress at times in the league, he was exposed when he came up against better-quality opponents.

Of course, the centre-back wasn’t the only player who struggled to make the step up, but the fact that he was only on loan, and other teams were interested in taking him, it seemed a logical decision to dispense with his services.

The arrival of Yuki Kobayashi from Vissel Kobe last month also meant that Postecoglou wasn’t left short of options at the back either.