Celtic Transfers 2024

Stoobhoy never said that

 

Good point but then he should have said away walk into a microwave rather than stick your head in one.

 

Isnt there a big hole in the middle of it? Ya could get yer head in it no sweat.

 

He's that ITK he only said this now

 

Watching PL struggle to open the padlocks on his purse was probably the main reason.

 

Again, don't think people are concerned of what we paid for him, going rate for a half decent striker. It's the manner we go about our business in the first place. Slapstick and almost panicky, going back the last few windows anyway.

 

I think we can rule out O Shea... interest from a few EPL clubs now

 

Ok.

Swap it to the oven then.

 

Think I'm looking at it too cynically but I just get the feeling with the overdeal put together for Idah, we aren't seeing anyone else come in unless MOR is sold for over £30mill in next few days

 

Yes you are

 

Tapia picture was from january then. Watches some highlights of him looked * brilliant tbh with his ball winning and distribution

 

I absolutely think we need more players that support the club and understand Scottish football culture. That speaks in favour of this deal. But let's be real. If this fella didn't have an Irish passport, there's no chance Desmond is reaching into his pocket for anything like 8 or 9 million. He's a soft spot for any player from Ireland or of Irish descent and I reckon that's played a role in why we've honed in so much on this one player. Desmond likes it, so get it done.

 

The four priority positions are:

LB
LCB
CDM
CM (If Matt goes)

The other position we need to upgrade is LW/RW, but with Kuhn, Maeda, Forrest, Palma, Yang and MJ still on the books, I don't see us strengthening there.

 

Would like to think MJ and possibly Yang will be out the door this summer

 

Would be astounded if we signed 2 midfielders, regardless of O'Riley going.

 

Celtic are looking to do deals before the closure of the transfer window and the first of those looks set to be Adam Idah.

The Hoops are moving closer to sealing a deal for the Norwich striker who they had on loan last season and that will please fans to an extent. However, in a way it does just put them in the same position as last season in terms of outfielders as the only other incomings have been goalkeepers Kasper Schmeichel and Viljami Sinisalo and fellow former loanee Paulo Bernardo


Manager Brendan Rodgers wants more quality and last week hinted he was confident on "one or two others" beyond the Irishman, and it's thought he's looking at left-back and centre-back and could yet add in midfield and attack also.


Here, Football Scotland looks at eight current Celtic transfer headlines

Adam Idah
Celtic have made a massive breakthrough the pursuit of their former loanee. The Hoops have agreed a fee with Norwich, believed to be for around £8.5million plus £1m in add-ons AND a sell-on. He was last night believed to be on his way to Glasgow to go through a medical and an announcement could be imminent


Matt O'Riley
A FIFTH Atalanta offer for O'Riley has been rejected. The Serie A side are not giving up their hopes of landing the 23-year-old and have continually returned with gradually improved bids. This time that was in excess of £20million, according to Sky Italia, but this still falls short of the £25m plus Celts are after


Kristoffer Lund
Some reports suggested the Hoops could be in for the Palermo left-back as they look for competition for Greg Taylor. But Football Scotland can clear that up as we understand the Italians are adamant he is NOT for sale. In any case, there has been no approach from the Scottish champions.


Daniel Kelly
English Championship side Millwall look to have won the race for the talented young midfielder, according to reports. With a contract stand-off between Celtic and Kelly ongoing for some time, it has always looked likely he would move on. Huge clubs like Tottenham and Bayer Leverkusen were linked but Lanarkshire Live reports London will be his destination when his contract runs out in December


Gustaf Lagerbielke
The Swedish defender is an outcast at Parkhead and unlikely to get much, if any, game time unless he moves on. Malmo in his homeland are reported to have made an attempt to lure him back and end his Hoops frustrations, but the centre-back is claimed to have rejected that move because he is "not ready" to return to Sweden. It is also reported clubs in the English Championship are keen on a loan while there is further Scandinavian interest.

Maik Nawrocki

Like his fellow centre-back, Nawrocki was brought in last summer but struggled for game time across the season with Liam Scales and Cameron Carter-Vickers establish themselves as first pick pairing. Polish outlet GP24 claim his old club Legia Warsaw are now preparing a lowball £1.2m offer but Celtic are not expected to accept that for a player they splashed out £4m on.

 

We need at least 5 quality midfielders.

Iwata and Kwon aren't good enough. Holm needs a loan.

That leaves us with:

1. McGregor
2. Hatate
3. Bernardo
4. O'Riley

McGregor isn't a natural DM and not good enough for the CL in that position. Hatate is quality on his day but his form has been patchy for the best part of a year now. He also isn't good enough defensively. Bernardo is a solid squad player who can provide adequate cover/competition. O'Riley is our best player but looks destined to leave.

In terms of numbers we look well covered, but dig a little deeper and we're playing a risky game for Europe. We're simply too lightweight and not defensively minded enough. Heck, remove O'Riley from the equation and we're significantly weaker.

 

I agree but the likelihood of that happening this window is low. I think they will continue with Iwata for another season and will utilise Holm in the same way they did Kelly, last season.

McGregor, Hatate, O'Riley replacement, Bernardo, Iwata and Holm.

 

When Idah signs, we still have 30 players in the squad, with 2 players out on loan(Bernabei and Tilio). So, 32 players overall but obviously, these two are temporarily elsewhere until December/June 2025.

We have the following...

3 GKs- Schmeichel, Sinisalo and Bain
6 CBs- CCV, Scales, Nawrocki, Welsh, Lagerbielke and Kobayashi
2 RBs- Johnstone and Ralston
2 LBs- Taylor and Montgomery
4 DMs- Iwata, Kwon, McCarthy and Shaw
5 CMs- McGregor, O'Riley, Hatate, Bernardo and Holm
3 LWs- Maeda, Palma and Johnston
3 RWs- Kuhn, Forrest and Yang.
2 STs- Kyogo and Idah.

You look at that squad above and we really need to get the numbers down. We are never going to see the complete squad turnover that we need before the end of this window and I know this is something that's probably going to take us 3/4 windows to sort out. There are players who I would prefer we moved on eventually but because of the work we need to do beforehand, they become less of a priority. So, players like Iwata, Welsh, Palma... not fans of them and would prefer to see them moved on but that's something that needs to be done at a later date. I'd like to see something like this in the remaining 3 weeks of the summer.

Kobayashi and Lagerbielke out, O'Shea/Mepham in.
Montgomery out, Lund in.
Kwon, McCarthy and Shaw out, Tessman in.
O'Riley out, Suzuki in.
Johnston and Yang out, Kvistgaarden in.

That would be 9 out and 5 in, reducing the squad size by another 4, taking the overall squad number to 26. A far more manageable number. That's when I would like to start seeing the quality of individuals being upgraded. Players like Iwata, Palma and Welsh being moved on and being upgraded with younger, proven talents. Spending more on fees and salaries as the business we would be doing gets reduced.

I'd like to see a squad like this after September.

3 GKs- Schmeichel, Sinisalo and Bain
5 CBs- CCV, O'Shea, Scales, Nawrocki, Welsh
2 RBs- Johnstone and Ralston
2 LBs- Lund and Taylor
2 DMs- Tessman and Iwata
5 CMs- McGregor, Suzuki, Hatate, Bernardo and Holm
2 LWs- Maeda and Palma
2 RWs- Kuhn and Forrest
1 Flexible forward- Kvistgaarden
2 STs- Kyogo and Idah.