Not Actually that Crucial a Summer as of August 2023...beginning to now think everything isnt fine!

It feels similar to when Rodgers left for me slightly in the sense that Rodgers wanted to sign guys like Castagne, Justin, Mcginn etc and the board would not meet his ambition. We find ourselves again with player sales and champions league money banked surely this time the board will have learned from the past and will allow us to actually kick on properly so we can try and make a proper go of Europe.

 

If we spent £6m on a keeper I'd probably want someone with more experience than Kelleher, only played in 20 or so games (not inc international). He's not played much, surprised he hasn't been sent out on loan. CCV had played over 100 games before coming here on loan. It's a tough position to do that with, but I don't think we can take the risk on an unknown quantity in goal really.

 

For the money you stated, the best we can get is probably Ivo Grbić of At. Madrid. Has been in goals for them this season a few times, but Oblak is immovable when fit. Still, I honestly think we might need to spend 10M to get a proven keeper, not 6.

 

It’s interesting the mentions of a Sporting Director came up again this week with the David Webb interview.

It is still a role I would like to see us fill with the caveat that Ange is comfortable with who comes in and there is an understanding of clear boundaries. Long term thinking Ange will go at some point and having someone in that role will help with replacing Ange as he is a generational manager, there aren’t many Ange’s in modern football. If we had brought in Howe he wouldn’t have taken on the full remit Ange has he wanted to bring in Richard Hughes as Sporting/football Director. So to give us the best chance of success post Ange I would like someone in with a decent overlap before Ange went they could probably learn from him knowledge of the game.

On funds interims showed £60m in the bank with a £10m balance on transfer fees due before we sold Juranovic and GG for £11m raising to £14.3m and bought Oh and Iwata for £3.3m. So we are probably still looking at
having around £60m at bank.

- Frimpong and Tierney sell on - estimate £9-13m.
- Add ons from Christie and Ajer sales - £1-2m.
- Asia tour - £8-10m
- Player sales - a minimum £12.5m up to really could be £30m+ depending who moves.

So whatever way you look at it we have substantial cash and scope to bring in even more.

A transfer budget up to £30m (depending on who moves on) should not be out the question. However the other point on this is Ange has been very good at getting class players for modest fees, like Hatate £1.4m, if you bought someone of his talent from anywhere in Europe your talking 8 figures. Therefore, I am not particularly bothered how much we spend but I do want first team players to come in. I think going in to a third season with the same starting 11 risks going a bit stale. We need 2 or 3 guaranteed starters for me and 4 or 5 overall that either start or are in that match day squad.

 

This summer... is make or break for Ange in Europe as Celtic manager.

That sounds extreme I know and I don't mean it as a way to suggest he'd lose the job if he doesn't see success in Europe... I mean it in a way that I don't see us being able to keep this squad together beyond next season, talents will absolutely get poached and as amazing as our recruitment has been, it's insane to think we can constantly strike gold as much as we have previously.

With the way Ange operates, his standards he demands, the effort, the sheer character and charisma this guy has I honestly believe that if we can get this summer window correct, we could make history in Europa League.

Next season is massive, my expectation are arguably going to be seen as unrealistic but this the first time in such a long time that I've genuinely felt this confident about something and it does feel like we are lining up for something special to happen with Ange

 

Next season is the last iteration of the European competitions in their current format. I think the most important change to the format for Celtic is the ending of the whole parachuting into the Europa or Conference knockouts after the CL group. In the new format if you don't qualify for the CL knockouts, you are out of Europe.

This means next season could be out last chance in a while of going on any kind of run in Europe post Christmas.

 

We should be expecting 3rd atleast to drop into the europa. I understand what you mean. This will be the last year of a full strength and experienced playing together sqaud before some will leave, and it'll be back to rebuilding for a year. That's just how we operate. Fact we got all of them so soon and on 5 year contracts has allowed this extra year and imo we will be getting some excellent results. I am very excited for the coming season in Europe.

 

It's a position for me that I see is critical.

But to now contradict myself I would say we should be able to find a young, hungry keeper at a stage of their career like Forster was originally when we first got him in.

But ad Hart hasn't exactly done anything wrong, the young lad can be an understudy who can be acclimated into the team with domestic cup starts and unless Hart goes through a run of games and commits howler after howler we can slowly bed them in with the intention of making them No.1 for the 24/25 season.

 

I think the sales we do will impact what we can do in the transfer market. If we can get many players out who are stealing a wage with us, we can probably go even further than we usually would.

The Main Players

Abada- Think it’s clear he wants to go. Think the club are ok about him moving on. Especially if we can get top dollar for him. I’d be looking for at least £15m

O’Riley- Conflicting reports about his happiness up here. Some saying he’s happy, others saying he would be happy to move back down to the PL. I really like him but I think he is too similar to Mooy and Turnbull and we need a different sort of midfielder. He’s also going to bring the club a lot of money and I’d want minimum £12m.

The High Earners on Loan

Barkas- Genuinely cannot believe there is talk of us getting some sort of fee for this carrot. Anything near £2m and we are doing incredible. £2m

Ajeti- Not a bad player and I think he would do well for a club who suit his style. Cracking finisher but at this point, I’d be happy to get him out the club. Hasn’t done well enough in Austria to get a fee, so just pay up his contract and let him go for free. -£1m

Soro- Has performed very well in Portugal. Played nearly every game for Arouca and you can’t help but think clubs will be watching him. Again, happy to move him on and if we can get anything near £1m, I’d be really happy.

Scales- Perfomed very well for Aberdeen. Cost the club £500k but we can recoup that and more in my opinion. Been their best defender. No reason why we can’t demand £1m for him from a mid table championship club.

Urgohide- Had a great first season for Oostende, hasn’t done great this year but neither has the club as a whole. Think there is a buy option in the contract for £750k and I would be happy to move on.

Deadwood

Players like Kenny, Shaw, Afolabi, Oluwayemi, Hazard. Just get them out the club. No need for them to come back, they’re not good enough and never will be. No fees needed, just let them go.

New Players

I’ve made no secret that I would like us to push the boat out and get 4 real top quality signings in the squad this year. The 4 positions I would like us to target real top quality are Goalkeeper, Centre Back, Left Back and Right Winger. Who I would like

Goalkeeper- Andries Noppert- Dutch number 1 and playing for Herenveen in the Eredivisie. Into the final year of his contract form the summer and they might do business. Valued at £5m but at 29, and under a year on his contract, could get him for less. Will have plenty of suitors no doubt.

Centre Back- Santiago Bueno- Has been a stand out for Girona in La Liga this year. Valued at £8m but has a long contract and will have plenty of interest come the summer. Owned by the City Group, obviously. Uruguayan international as well.

Left Back- Quentin Merlin- Young 20 year old left back from FC Nantes in France. Played the majority of their games this season. Quick, decent height and positioning. They’re struggling towards the bottom of the table and in a relegation scrap. Could pick him up cheaper if they do go down. Valued at £7m but would fit into the Ange system very well. Look at his goal against PSG last season: the absolute definition of an inverted fullback.

Right Winger- Reiss Nelson- Now, I know it’s very unlikely. However, I’ve maybe convinced myself that there is a chance in there somewhere? Not signing a new deal for Arsenal. Looks like he wants more first team opportunities. Will have plenty of suitors down south from England but they’ll all be relegation scrappers. I’d trust Ange to convince anyone to make the move here. The direction the club is going. Guaranteed champions league. Trophies on offer. Look at CCV. I’d back Tierney to speak to him about the move if it ever did become a discussion. Yes, wages talk but he’s on a free. We could offer him a decent signing on fee and a high packed salary. *, even Chuck in a minimum release clause so that he has the chance to move down south of the offer is there. Could ask the question regardless.

Centre Midfield- Ryataro Ito- A relatively cheap option to pick up and he’s exactly what we need in the midfield to replace O’Riley. Good age, good experience and Ange could get him playing amazing in our team. Wouldn’t cost more than £2m in my opinion.

Outgoing costs

Abada-£15m
O’Riley- £12m
Frimpong Sell on- £7m
Tierney Sell on- £4m
Christie Survival Clause- £1m
Barkas- £2m
Scales/Soro/Urgohide- £2.5m

Total- £43.5m

Incoming costs

Noppert-£6m
Bueno- £10m
Merlin- £7m
Nelson- 0
Ito- £2m

Total Cost- £25m

club makes £18m profit from player sales and add one before we talk about champions league money.

 

@Celtic_Daft1888 good post. I liked how you put high price tags on our better players. But Heerenveen are between 8 and 10th in the mediocre Eredivisie. Hardly a glowing recommendation for Noppert who is supposed to be the best Holland have.
Big yes on Bueno though.

 

Kelleher is my choice too for goalkeeper. A quality goalkeeper is the bedrock of any good defence.
Kelleher would be a statement signing.

 

There are a few goalkeepers from the English Championship that I would take who are mid table themselves. Their league position doesn’t reflect individual performances.

 

Where's Siegrist in the thinking now? I was a fan of his before he came to Celtic.

 

Ange said a while back he wanted to up our game in the transfer market by bringing in better (more expensive) players and sell them on.. kinda of like our strategy now but with player up grades..

I hope that happens..

 

You * yourself thinking about a new goalkeeper really, seems most keepers are unsuccessful at every team.

When you have a stable keeper who doesn't really make a mistake and makes saves then keeping them seems the smart choice. Signing a guy you think is better it's a gamble, then if you go back to the guy who was playing his confidence is rattled.

 

IMO, the individual ability of a goalkeeper has more influence on a team's fortunes than individual ability of any other player/position, because they alone must do their job- as the last hope when everything else fails. Of course, if the team is well set-up (like us domestically), then a goalie's quality matters less than if it's not. Heerenveen are obviously far from great as a team, and Noppert isn't elevating them with his own ability, either. For CL, we need better.

England-based players are sadly, overpriced.

 

True but take Aaron Ramsdale from Arsenal. Got relegated with Bournemouth the year before he left there and is arguably the best keeper in the premier league at the minute. He couldn’t save Bournemouth from relegation. Doesn’t mean he’s not a good goalkeeper.

The same goes for Noppert.

 

Dutch goalies obviously have good technique. But to me, saving shots and commanding the defense are critical. They are what will make us stay in Europe after the group stages, or not. De Vries had ball control, but fuckall else. In order to have a modern keeper who can do his basic job well on top of ball control, we'll have to look hard.

 

I'd had a similar concern about this transfer window myself, because I'd thought we might keep spending to improve and keep Ange happy, but with the Huns in complete disarray, I'm not sure we will.

We've historically had a bad view on our being a Scottish team in Europe Vs a European team from Scotland. It appears semantic, but it's ABSOLUTELY not.

Holding onto the core (or reinvesting most of fees achieved), and investing about £20M on real quality could be a pivotal turning point for us as a club. The Huns 100% would in our place, and we're very lucky they were a financial bag of cats when they got the automatic access to CL/EL money and it was consumed by that.