When are the fixtures announced?
Neil Lennon said the Biton deal is all but done and that we’re very close on Pukki.
More excitingly, it is my understanding that Alfred Finnbogason will be flying into Glasgow on Friday with a view to signing for Celtic.
Tony Watt is set to be sent out on loan for the season.
[quote=“Bandage, post: 823790, member: 9”]Neil Lennon said the Biton deal is all but done and that we’re very close on Pukki.
More excitingly, it is my understanding that Alfred Finnbogason will be flying into Glasgow on Friday with a view to signing for Celtic.
Tony Watt is set to be sent out on loan for the season.[/quote]
I see there are also reports that we are close to signing Capuano. If we get those four players in then I think it has been a good windo. If Watt is being allowed to leave on loan then it’s a good thing - personally I’d like to see him go on loan to another SPL club and see if he can show us he is capable of scoring 20+ right now. We should send McGeouch off with him.
I haven’t send anything concrete on the Finnbogason story but the Capuano story is being pushed by some well known journalists in Italy so we will see. All that is really lacking in making it an excellent window is the signing of another central midfielder in addition to Biton.
Celtic have confirmed the signing of Israeli internationalist midfielder Nir Biton on a 4-year deal.
Delighted with this.
We won’t be signing Finnbogason, given that we have little over 30 hours left to sign anyone I think Pukki will be our final signing.
Celtic supporters are waiting for Finnbogason at Glasgow International Airport. 
I’m sticking my neck on the line and saying there is no chance of Finnbogason signing in this window. I actually think Pukki is a better player anyway.
He’s on a British Airways flight from London Heathrow.
Follow the fight radar here:
http://www.flightradar24.com/SHT6E
It was due in at 8.05pm but current ETA is 8.26pm.
Where are you hearing this, Bando?
Some cunt on the huddleboard who knows some cunt who works in a dog kennel place in Glasgow which is used by someone high up in Celtic (to mind his dogs when he’s away with football) who told the dog kennel employee that Finbar was on the flight who in turn told the huddleboard member. A very reliable source in other words.
I’m very skeptical. STV would have this if it was legit.
The flight has now landed. We’ll soon find out.
@mickee321 - can you buy me the red and yellow FC Ashdod jersey please?
No sign of Finny at the airport. And judging by his latest tweet a few minutes ago, he appears to be at home watching an Eredivisie match on TV.
I’ve been vindicated yet again.
We need to get Pukki finalised. And then a sneaky one or two more. The window in Scotland slams shut tomorrow ahead of the rest of Europe for some reason.
Nir Biton will wear the number 6 at Celtic.
Interview with him here: http://www.celticfc.tv/freeview
Interview with Lennon from the Telegraph. Wouldn’t be too hopeful of many arrivals today based on this. Also completely disagree with the need to acquire another left back.
As Celtic added Israeli midfielder Nir Biton to their squad – and attempted to squeeze in the signing of Finnish striker Teemu Pukki from Schalke 04 before Saturday night’s signing deadline – Neil Lennon admitted that the club’s scouting network had been pushed to its limits.
Despite the loss of influential players such as Gary Hooper, Victor Wanyama and Kelvin Wilson, Celtic survived a tense Champions League play-off with Shakhter Karagandy to be drawn with Barcelona, AC Milan and Ajax in the group stage, but resources are lighter than last season.
“I think there’s money there to spend – it’s just about trying to get the right player in for the right price,” said Lennon. “We’re always looking for value for money.
“There have been players where we thought ‘yeah’ and the asking price has gone up and I’ve even pulled the plug on one or two because I didn’t think they were worth the money. I would have liked, like everybody else, to have done the business earlier and quicker but that’s just not the case sometimes.
“In the case of Pukki, for example, we were in for him a week or two ago and they said ‘no deal’. They weren’t prepared to sell and it looked as though they were stockpiling centre forwards.
“Now things have moved on and taken their natural course of events so I think we’re in for a busy next couple of days. We’ve made no secret of the fact that we’ve been looking for a left-back.
“Emilio Izaguirre is the only recognised one. I know we went with Charlie Mulgrew against Shakhter but it was just the way we wanted to play. Basically, we went 2-4-4 because of the way Shakhter play and the width was coming from Adam Matthews and Charlie.
“We felt Charlie would give us a little bit more in terms of passing accuracy and maybe the final ball in there than Emilio would have, but we always had Emilio there ready to come on. He’s played a lot of football in the last three years and is a little bit fatigued.”
Izaguirre – Scotland’s player of the year two seasons ago – was unearthed by Celtic’s chief scout, John Park, but Lennon conceded that the club’s scouting system is being stretched. “Yes. We’ve been looking everywhere, all over the world, really – South America, Panama, places like that and sometimes it’s very difficult to do deals,” said the manager.
“Sometimes you think you’re there and then the price goes up, another agent gets involved and you end up talking to three different agents. It just becomes a bit of a muddle sometimes and we don’t want to get involved in all that.
“We do our business. I’ll be glad when the window closes because there it is, there’s your squad to work with – no one’s leaving, no one’s coming in and we can get on with it. It drives you crackers sometimes.”
There is also the risk that, under pressure to strengthen before the deadline, incoming players might fall short of the standard expected. “We’ve done it before. I’m not going to name names but you know who I’m talking about,” said Lennon although, by his estimate, Biton – signed from Ashdod in a deal estimated to be worth £700,000 – will not fall into the category of misplaced purchase.
“He’s a class player, he’s tall with a good engine, he’s got soft feet, he’s got a good range of passing, he’s powerful when he gets going,” he said of the 21-year-old. “He will bring a bit of extra quality to the midfield because we have been a little bit light there since Victor left.”
Biton, speaking through an interpreter on Friday, said: “I know the level of Celtic – they are a big club in Europe, with some of the best fans in the world, so this is my dream. When you come to a club like Celtic you expect to win championships and cups and to go as far as you can in the Champions League, and that’s what I expect from me and my team.
“I play in a defensive midfield role but I can play anywhere in the midfield.”
Biton is a former team-mate of Celtic defender Efe Ambrose and compatriot of midfielder Beram Kayal but insists he was not guided in his decision to join Celtic by either.
“I know the level of Celtic so I don’t need to speak to anybody,” he said.
On Saturday Celtic travel to Tannadice for the lunchtime televised kick-off in the Scottish Premiership and Biton will go straight into the squad.
Biton, though, is already looking forward to the Champions League group stage.
“I was in a taxi on the way to my medical yesterday when I heard the draw,” he said. “It is the first time that I am going to play against these kind of players. Champions League is a dream of every player. I have waited for a long time and I am ready for it.
“The draw is very tough but in football everything is open. I saw Celtic’s game against Barcelona last year at home. It was something that was impossible but Celtic won.”
Why have Scotland gone with a Saturday deadline Rocko?