Celtic's 2025/26 Summer transfer window: Stage: Blochairn hovering over the Panic button

A marquee type signing is what we all need to go forward. Whether we do that is a different story, but who knows, maybe PL and the board will actually spend a wad of the millions they have accumulated to justify the rise in our season tickets

 

Think we’ll probably get a midfielder towards the end of the window

 

The point is though, that team that very nearly beat Munich away doesn’t become a bad team in 5 months. From the starting lineup, we’ve replaced Schlupp with Tierney, so probably better there, Kuhn hasn’t been replaced and Jota is injured so we have been unlucky with that. We still have the makings of a very good side right now. Yes we need a few positions rectified. A couple of wingers are probably a must now, and I would like another centre half, but it’s not a total disaster currently.

Nobody needs to tell me the frustration when it comes to this board. I’ve been one of the most vocal on here for a number of years about them. It is still very early in the window right now though.

 

Think it's the usual. Teams peak at some point each season. Ours was Bayern last season. See where we peak this season.

 

If we are using the Munich game as a reference, a watershed moment we peaked. Thats what we need to improve.

Now we could improve and find we just caught them on a good night for us, and the fact we had them on the ropes for a period could be more about them than ourselves. So what im trying to say is we could improve but still not hit that hight in a champions league knock out stage.

But still lets control what we can control, and the biggest thing that night we can improve was when we went to the bench that night to find a match winner there wasnt someone to turn the tie in our favour. Kuhn run himself into the ground [last time he did that for us] and nobody could step up. To be fair to the likes of Yang that evening he did play well.

But we need the player coming on to not be such a drop in standard. But that means going out and signing three first teamers across the front line and it wont happen

And we would need to add a quality centre half to play alongside CCV. Trusty and Scales will do as back up. They have shown in games at that level they can play. More suited to their stregths thab league games in which there ability to play through the lines is more in question. If id to sell one it would be Trusty. But more so because i feel Scales would be more content playing on the fringes of the team more.

We need someone of a high standard to rotate with KT to manage his game time and potential injurys.

And we need a quality DM. I think we would need to lose one in Midfield for that but with Ben there i dont mind if a fair offer came in for Arne or Barnardo we move them on to make way for the 6.

Ironically finish on that number 6, cause we need 6 signings in 6 weeks

 

Here’s the problem statement

We were good against Bayern but the reason we didn’t manage to get it over the line is because of the squad weakness. If it went to ET and we had a decent wider squad then there was a chance. Unfortunately the bench was pitifully weak and the players were out on their feet. Maybe it’s better that Bayern scored as they would’ve done us by 4 or 5 in ET given the team were legless. Hence the problem.

So to really hit the mark, we had to improve upon that quite a bit. Unfortunately we are in a weaker position.

 

Have to assume Osmand is going out on loan. No minutes in the last two games.

 

Shame that as would have been good to see him play

 

Brendan Rodgers welcomed the arrival of speed demon Shin Yamada - then promised Celtic fans the Hoops are working flat out to add more firepower in quick time.

Japanese striker Yamada - dubbed quicker than Daizen Maeda - was paraded ahead of the demolition of Newcastle in the Adidas Cup showdown after clinching his £1.3m move from Kawasaki Frontale.

But Celtic, who lost Kyogo Furuhashi in January and Nicolas Kuhn in a £17m exit to Como last week, are eager to add more goals with Royal Antwerp ace Michel-Ange Balikwisha a long term target.

There’s just tow weeks until the champions raise the curtain on a new season against St Mirren.

And Rodgers said: “Any coach would love to have them in at the beginning, on the first day of pre-season, but we all know how the market works.

“There’s a little period, and then there's another period to sign, and then it ramps up at the end.

“Every coach will tell you that they want them in the first day of the season, but as long as they're here by the end of August.

“Obviously in some areas we would like them sooner.

“By the end of August we'll be able to see the squad that we have, and take it from there.

“I think it's bringing goals to the squad. When you’ve just scored four goals, that always seems to be okay, but we lost an important player in January in Kyogo, who scored a lot of goals, and we’ve lost Nicolas Kuhn, a lot of goals again, and even Matt O’Riley last summer.

“Even though we scored a lot of goals last season, we still want more, and our ambition is to have more, so I think all across the front areas, we have to be active in order to give us that depth.

“We’ve still got a lot of work to do but the guys that are training and working with us are doing so well. You saw that today, and they're all developing their fitness and participating in the games for us.

“I would expect us by the end of the window to have brought in players in certain areas of the pitch that we need to go through a really long season. But it's an exciting season for us.”

Arne Engels’ penalty opened the floodgates against Eddie Howe’s Toon before Johnny Kenny, Hjunjuun Yang and Liam Scales put the gloss on an emphatic victory.

But it was last year’s player of the year Daizen Maeda who starred, playing a big part in the first and third goals, an electric performance on the left of a front three.

The Japan ace has attracted interest from Brentford this summer and has yet to sign the new deal Celtic have tabled.

Rodgers added: “I don't think there have been any developments on that, but he's a professional and his focus is very much on here.”

Meanwhile Rodgers reckons new boy Yamada can leave even Duracell bunny Maeda in his wake going by his stats.

He said: “His profile suits how he plays. He's one of the quickest players from the Japanese league - he's even quicker than Daizen and Kyogo in terms of statistics, and that's how we play, that speed in the top line.

“He gives that depth as well, so I'm really looking forward to seeing him come in and seeing what he can bring.

“All the Japanese players that we work with, they have intensity, they have fitness, and they have this momentum, this mentality to keep going, so we think he'll bring that, and hopefully we can develop him like we have the other players.”

 

Pretty much saying same as last summer. Certain signings will need to wait to end of window and its not at the clubs end its the players.

 

What does he know though. Full of excuses. If you’ve ever played Football Manager, you know it’s dead easy to get these deals over the line early in the window.

 

With Tilio and Palma both about to leave on loan, we must be ready to announce a new winger. Surely?!

 

Still the same team that done everything that I posted did as well.

We have been crying out for players and I hope tae * we sign them but we’ve all seen it before with the club and we can only wait and see what happens in the next 3/4 weeks.

 

Realistically though, we are never going to get to the level Bayern are at. That’s unfortunately the reality of it.

 

Need to play the long game mate

 

... But we nearly did?

Would a few more recruits make the difference? We don't know but it would've increased our chances most likely, which could've been the final push we needed.

That Bayern tie was winnable and new recruits wouldn't have hurt.

 

id agree but it’s Celtic lol , you know what we are like …… nah but in all seriousness I think there must be a couple of deals in the pipeline , rather than a couple of wingers I would think a winger and a striker possibly , I think maeda will still be counted as a winger at least until jota is back

 

Surely Trusty deserves another crack at starting LCB, the defensive side of the game is excellent.. just needs to work on progressing the ball quicker v 'weaker' sides.. having KT back will be so much better for any LCB as he'll demand the ball and help out much better defensively..

For me we need those 2 wingers in sharpish and we are still badly lacking that physicality in the midfield..

 

Centre back


Centre midfielder



Wingers


We'll see plenty of names thrown around next week onwards