Celtic Transfer Windows - Now 2026

Sport
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I felt an air of melancholy & apathy watching that Celtic game last night. Now maybe itā€™s the early season cobwebs & there have been a few lowkey opening day games in recent seasons, but I was looking at a club operating so far below their potential. All the talk about learning lessons & itā€™s the exact same pattern again. A club crying out for an injection of ambition & competency. A stale product on the pitch & frustration & anger mounting up off it.

Outsiders talk about entitlement with domestic honours continuing to rack up, but the club should be so much better with the position of strength they hold based on the resources pumped in by supporters. Failing to progress to 7 out of 9 Champions League group stages via the qualification route shows the whole story. Consistently dumped out by sides with much fewer (lesser?) resources.

Do they want to &/or are they capable of mixing consistently it with the best sides from the second tier leagues, becoming CL regulars?
Is it trying to finish slightly ahead of Hearts & new Rangers or challenging themselves to be the best possible club they can be? I get fed up of the straw man argument put out by the board about protecting the clubā€™s future & the thinly veiled references to the huns going bust. Nobody expects the club to pay Ā£30mn for players, start paying top earners Ā£100k per week & saddling the club with huge debt. There is a middle ground here ffs sake.

Starting another season & staring down the gun of a pivotal CL qualifier with so many positions unfilled is infuriating. I thought Celtic were pretty disjointed last night. Thereā€™s a desire there but it reminded me again of MONā€™s Ireland reign. I get modern football can be a bit boring with all the choreographed routines in & out of possession but Celtic look like a moments team. Lads trying hard & playing with good spirit but a real lack of a playing style or pattern. Itā€™s emblematic of the club as a whole really.

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Make that 15 out the door. Surely, surely they must be close to signing some midfielders? Surely? Right?

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Loan deals Mudryk and Jarrod Bowen in the works Im hearing mate.

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To make the season exciting Celtic need to struggle domestically and excel in Europe. I think at least one of these two could be achieved.

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I think itā€™s clear MON doesnā€™t rate Balikwisha but I do think he could be a decent player if played centrally.

I think everyone is convinced the guy is a dud on the basis of the shit 8 min YouTube game which effectively was just a cut of a handful of underage internationals and European club games.

Thereā€™s actually a decent compilation of him from his domestic games that was released after every decided he was rubbish.

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Bernardo seemed like a good lad with a good attitude but didnā€™t really have any standout attribute and didnā€™t really seem to advertise what type of player he was.

He came on to a bit of form at the end of Rodgers first season that prompted us to buy him and actually started that season off very well. He had a great game against Rangers when we spanked them 3-0 at Celtic Park just after we signed Engels. I think he got an injury shortly after and Engels stepped into the team and he barely kicked his arse for us after that.

I canā€™t really see us missing him this season.

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Lots of commentary on Ghedjemis but I donā€™t think anybody really knows what is happening - including MON.

Reports from a French journalist saying we bid ā‚¬7m but they want ā‚¬9m.

Reports in Italy that we bid Ā£6m and Rangers bid Ā£8m and that Frosinone want around Ā£13m.

CeltsAreHere denying we have bid yet but have had talks and also claiming the Huns bid as legit.

I canā€™t see him going for ā‚¬9m, he was arguably the best player in Serie B last season, heā€™s only 23, scored at the World Cup. His team are now in Serie A - they will want top rate for him and Ā£13m is reasonable in todayā€™s market with his profile and trajectory.

I also canā€™t see the huns bidding Ā£8m for them. They spent a packet last season, they have already spent about Ā£17m this term. They have a hugely bloated squad at present, their signings all seem to be around the Ā£5m or under. They couldnā€™t get a deal done for the Norwegian lad thatā€™s now off to Hull because they couldnā€™t afford the fee. They were hoping for a big bid for Raskin that hasnā€™t came yet so I think they are limited in what they can pay until they get some money in. They must currently be very close to breaching FFP regulations or FSR or whatever they are called now.

I could see us paying the ā‚¬9m for him if that report is accurate but Iā€™d doubt that is the case. We certainly wonā€™t be paying Ā£13m on him. Hassan has a release clause of ā‚¬12m and his clubs seem adamant they get that as there is a 40% sell on clause for them, he only has 12 months left on his contract so Celtic may try and play the long game on that as they are doing with Baur.

I think both Hassan and Ghedjemis are good players and exactly what we need but Iā€™d have a preference for Hassan out of the two of them.

No update on Baur, we are 13 days away from when the deadline is to register new signings. Unless there is a breakthrough with the Baur negotiations in the next week I canā€™t see us being able to register any signings.

I donā€™t see the squad getting through qualification as it is now, nevermind if it is weakened further with the likes of Engels and AJ potentially going.

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The latest update from David Friel from the Scottish Sun should terrify us.

We are aiming to get up to 6 new players in the door before the window shuts.

a) we need far more than 6
b) if thatā€™s the max we are targeting we will be lucky to get them. 4 of them will probably be deadline day scrambled deals likely loans.

We already need a GK, LB, 2 * CM and 2 * RW as things stand at the bare minimum. Engels and Johnston will need replaced as will Hatate if he goes. Balikwisha and Kenny will also be out the door.

Friel seems to have a close line to the Celtic board so this is worrying. Gross incompetence on display for all to see.

We come out of every transfer window weaker than we go into. Managed decline under a programme of austerity.

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MON in hospital after a small heart procedure.

Get well soon Martin.

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I donā€™t venture into this thread much but what is your opinion on MON staying on for another year?

He is an undoubted club legend and owes the club nothing, but is keeping him on the hierarchys way of keeping a disgruntled fan base quiet?

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Berthal Askou should have got the job but Desmond only interested in appointing a yes man.

I donā€™t like a club legend like MON risking his legacy at the shit show we are. He is forced out in front of a microphone on a daily basis to answer questions on the failures of those above him to do their job competently.

I wouldnā€™t be surprised if he resigns on health related grounds before the season is out. The board made it a binary option between a 74 year old club legend and a Zionist arsehole from Dublin. Most fans wanted Berthal Askou, it would have been an easy deal too but Desmond wants a man who will be a mudguard for the board in front of the media. They do not like scrutiny and accountability.

Funnily enough MON said that he was due to meet Nicholson yesterday on our transfers. I wonder is this his and the clubs exit strategy for the shitshow we are in on the transfer front over the next few weeks. The conspiracy theorist in me feels MON knows the squad is not getting the quality needed in and wants to walk away having been failed by them. The board then get to use an unforeseen change of manager in last few weeks of the window as yet another excuse for their repeated failures.

Imagine if Desmond ever had to rely on business acumen instead of buying corrupt degenerate politicians in financial bother.

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1396

The Huns now also adding another winger. Some Morrocan lad from PSV. Once again we are relying on another implosion from them this season.

They look set to sign 3 players in a week. No waiting for money to come in, no waiting for players out the door. What their managers request they get and they get it promptly. Rodgers spent 12 months begging the Celtic board for quality as they sold off his key players and sat on a 70m cash pile.

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The incompetence is staggering.

This adds to the stories of Siegrist where he was told by the Celtic coaching staff that he could leave but the Celtic board didnā€™t respond to any inquiries for him or the story at the end of the last window where Nicholson wouldnā€™t answer the phone when Birmingham were trying to get him to conclude the Yang deal after Celtic had drafted position or Idah having to travel back from Swansea after a deal had been agreed.

These are just the stories that are actually documented and verified. Nichoslon is the Wilfried Nancy of football executives.

Desmond doesnā€™t care how incompetent you are at Celtic, if you take the flak and be a mudguard you have a job for life.

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FAO of @Bistoā€¦it looks very much like going the other way now, even though some of the players linked to Celtic looked to be a decent standard. Thereā€™s a lack of competence & desire to get signings done. All transfer talk gone cold. No sign of them getting Ghedjemis or Baur completed. Thought they could pacify the support with the Hogh signing but people arenā€™t idiots & can see there needs to be loads of new signings.

Looks like theyā€™re gonna hunker down now til after the CL qualifier & take the usual approach. If they get embarrassed, as tends to happen in these qualifiers, theyā€™ll make an immediate permanent signing (this was Balikwisha last season) to try to placate the fans & the rest will be scrambling around desperately a week later at the end of the window, like me outside the ladiesā€™ shitters in Copperā€™s at 2.50am on a Saturday morning in 2006. Theyā€™ll get a couple of loans & maybe sign an out of contract player outside the window like Ox & Iheanacho last season. Itā€™s a shocking dereliction of duty.

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1401

And yetā€¦some random sub Fab Romano accounts reporting Celtic are on the verge of getting Hassan.

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Heā€™s the game changer for me.

If we can get him in he can make the world of difference in the final third.

Midfield still needs sorting but this is more encouraging.

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The lack of pace in the team is alarming. Not just dribblers but lads whoā€™ll make runs beyond the opposition defence to stretch the game. Hassan would tick both boxes hopefully but the midfield urgently needs attention alright. Some reports too that Everton have cooled their interest in Johnston, which would be good news. I still expect Engels to leave this summer - he was fairly rubbish the other night but heā€™s the only one with physicality & running power in that position. It concerns me that McCowan is first midfield sub. I donā€™t know if Ox will overtake him but they need at least 2 signings in midfield, 3 if Engels goes.

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Ox is finished. I donā€™t mind McCowan, thought he had a good first season but heā€™s generally the type of guy who might play 10-15 games a season, heā€™s got a bit of energy about him and a decent left foot but he will get overrun in big games.

It seems like we are operating on a very narrow focus this window.

Not too many links and weā€™re focusing on a more proven type of signing but Nicholson just canā€™t seem to get the deals concluded anyway efficiently.

By the sounds of it Horkas looks to be the keeper target, maybe Vitek as an alternative. Apparently we are ā‚¬1m away from him and heā€™s keen to move but Nicholson wll probably drag the arse out of it over the difference.

LB - I think it looks like itā€™s going to be Taylor on loan. Ferry is much better for me and itā€™s such an easy deal conclude - Ā£2m should wrap that up handy.

RB - who knows if Johnston goes, good to hear that he will likely be hear for the playoff at least. We should not be entertaining a base fee of under Ā£15m in any circumstance. Araujo is now off the list after undergoing surgery.

CM - looks like Gineitis and Baur are the Engels and Hatate replacement targets. Again the arse in being dragged out of these two - links broke a long time back. It seems we are only going to move for Gineitis when Engels is out the door and Paderborn are playing hardball with us over Baur when Celtic should just stump up. Think we need another one here as Ox is finished and should never have been renewed.

Winger - still need another wide man on top of Hassan if he arrives. Jota now not expected back until after XMAS - that will make it nearly 2 years since he last kicked a ball, coupled with the fact he was frozen out in Saudi - itā€™s questionable whether he will be at anywhere near the level he was before. Yang is away for a while to the Asian games and that just really leaves an unpredictable Tounekti and 35 year old Forrest.

I have to say I hope Hassan if he arrives might give Tounekti a kick on. Heā€™s the only real outball weā€™ve had in the team in the past 12 months and he has struggled but I do like wingers who look for the ball and are positive on it. His decision making can be erratic, his end product wasteful and defensively he switches off too much but when he was been on his game he has looked really dangerous - hopefully he can bring that more consistently.

Sinisalo/Horkas

AJ
CCV
Scales/Trusty
Tierney

Baur
McGregor
Gineitis

Hassan
Hogh/Duran
Yang/Tounekti

Would be getting closer to the starting XI quality we need but we still need live options there to really push on. Another winger and an actual no 6 would be really lift the levels and give us a side that can compete in the CL.

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