Celtic have won their battle to keep striker Oh Hyeon-gyu at the club during the Asian Games after South Korea omitted him, despite picking four players from Europe.

South Korea will field an Under 24s team in the Asian Games football tournament in China and it's viewed as a prestigious tournament in the country because their government issues exemptions from mandatory national service if they win the gold medal, although Oh has already completed his stint. 

They have won the last two tournaments.

The Koreans were so desperate to get Oh involved, they sent manager Hwang Seon-hong to Glasgow in May for talks with former boss Ange Postecoglou and Hoops chiefs to try and persuade them to release the striker.

However, the tournament is not on FIFA dates and clubs are under no obligation to have to release any players.

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But South Korea have instead opted to pick four European players instead of Oh - PSG's new starlet Lee Kang-in, Jeong Woo-yeong from Stuttgart, Park Kyu-hyun of Dynamo Dresden and Hong Hyun-seok of Gent.

Manager Hwang said: "I have tried all avenues to get more strikers, including those overseas.

"But if the foreign club does not allow the player to go to the tournament, then there is nothing we can do about it."

Oh will now avoid missing around a month of the season from early on in September, with the final due to be played on October 7.