Celtic should not make it hard for Johnny Kenny to move on.

Today, a number of managers south of the border were being asked about Celtic players, and there is still some uncertainty over what happens next with Alistair Johnston, Arne Engels and Johnny Kenny.

In all probability, Johnston and Engels will eventually move to the clubs with which they have been linked should the reported fees be met. The one which still feels slightly up in the air is Kenny, because most people expect him to end up at Bolton, yet even the Bolton manager sounded unsure today.

He expressed doubt about whether the club could afford the deal.

That immediately made me wonder what kind of fee Celtic is actually asking for and what kind of fee we can reasonably expect.

Johnny Kenny has not been a major success in a Celtic shirt. We all wanted him to be. We all hoped we might be watching a player who could make the breakthrough and become a significant first-team option.

But we cannot pretend to believe something other than what we have seen.

Kenny was not even given a squad number by Celtic. That tells you where he currently sits in the pecking order. Nowhere near the front of it.

There is also a recognition of that reality in the club’s recruitment. Celtic has already moved to strengthen the striking positions, Callum Osmand is regarded as a young option for the future, and there are further attacking links appearing all the time.

Whatever happens with those names, it is obvious that Kenny is now some distance down the queue. There seems to be a broad acceptance that he is unlikely to establish himself as a Celtic first-team player.

That is precisely why I am wondering what we are trying to achieve with his transfer.

What kind of fee do we want? What kind of fee do we expect? And are we making his departure more difficult than it needs to be?

Celtic is entitled to get fair value for players. I am all for that. When we sell our best footballers, I want the club to squeeze every possible pound out of the deal.

But Johnny Kenny is not one of our most valuable first-team assets. He is a player who appears to have been told, indirectly at least, that he is not part of the immediate plan.

If he is not going to play, and if he is not even considered part of the first-team squad, then Celtic should not make his exit unnecessarily difficult. Kenny deserves the opportunity to go somewhere and actually play football.

Bolton know him. They like him. He had a decent spell there and would presumably have no great difficulty returning to a club and environment with which he is familiar.

If Bolton wants him and Kenny wants Bolton, then Celtic should be looking for a sensible resolution rather than turning this into another drawn-out negotiation over a relatively modest fee. We are not talking about a £20 million asset here.

A reasonable valuation for Kenny might be somewhere around the £500,000 mark, perhaps with add-ons or a sell-on clause attached should Celtic believe there is still significant upside in his development. That would seem sensible.

I am actually surprised there has not been more interest from within Scotland.

Kenny strikes me as the kind of player who could suit Aberdeen, Hibs or Dundee United very well. He needs football, confidence and the chance to play regularly without every appearance being treated as an audition for Celtic.

There is also a strategic argument for allowing players like Kenny to remain in the Scottish game. I have never understood why Celtic does not do more of that. If a player is not going to make our first team but is good enough to strengthen another Premiership side, why not allow that to happen?

A stronger Aberdeen, Hibs or Dundee United is not necessarily a bad thing for Celtic, particularly when those clubs can take points from the team across the city.

There are ways to think strategically about these deals beyond simply asking for the highest possible fee. But if Celtic is not interested in that kind of strategic transfer, then I genuinely do not understand the purpose of holding onto Kenny.

Let him go. Let him move on reasonably and allow everybody to put this in the rear-view mirror. There is no benefit in turning this into a saga.

Johnny Kenny gave his best whenever he played in a Celtic shirt. It simply appears that he is missing something required to become a regular first-team striker here.

Maybe it is composure. Maybe it is the speed of decision-making at this level. Maybe it is simply that Celtic has decided there are better options available. Sometimes it is difficult to identify the precise reason why a player does not quite make the final step.

But once the club accepts that conclusion, there is little point in keeping him trapped in between. If Kenny leaves and goes on to score a pile of goals somewhere else, brilliant. I would be delighted for him.

If he develops, earns a bigger move and makes Celtic look foolish for letting him go, so be it. That happens in football. You cannot keep every player forever because you are frightened he might improve somewhere else.

At some point, you make a decision.

If that decision is that Kenny is not going to be a Celtic first-team player, then the fair thing is to let him get on with his career. Keeping him around while giving him no squad number and no realistic route to the team achieves absolutely nothing.

It wastes his time and ours. And for what? A nominal difference in transfer fee?

Celtic was willing to tear up Stephen Welsh’s contract and allow him to move on when the club decided that was the best solution for everybody. There is no reason to become unnecessarily difficult over Kenny should Bolton or another club make a fair offer.

If several teams are interested, fine. Let the market determine the price.

But if Bolton is his preferred destination, they want him, and the only obstacle is Celtic demanding an unrealistic fee for a player it does not intend to use, then we should show some common sense. Get fair value.

Protect the club with sensible add-ons or a sell-on percentage if necessary.

Then let Johnny Kenny go and play football.

He deserves that opportunity.

And Celtic has far bigger transfer problems to solve than turning the departure of a player outside the first-team picture into another unnecessary drama.

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