Dear Michael, Celtic can compete in the transfer market, but not with you at the helm | OneFootball

Dear Michael, Celtic can actually compete in the transfer market, but frankly not with you at the helm…

Celtic CEO Michael Nicholson has come out with some bizarre and concerning comments during a recent Q&A session with Irish Celtic supporters over in Cork.

Minutes have been released from the sit down which took place on Saturday 4th July, and they have made for some insightful reading.

When quizzed on why he and his colleagues have been “so slow” when it comes to recruiting players,  Michael Nicholson, gave an absolute whopper of an excuse for his role in our incompetence on the recruitment front, by stating that it was becoming difficult to deal with agents, whilst competing with EPL clubs.  He added that even clubs in the English Championship are now a major hurdle in our pursuit to strengthen our squad.

If anyone actually believes this malarkey, then more fool them. Michael Nicholson is actively gaslighting the supporters once again, as it’s clear and obvious that the problem for our slackness in that department is purely down to the Celtic CEO himself and his fellow incompetent colleagues that run club affairs.

We failed to land several high profile transfer targets last year, including Mathias Kvistgaarden, and David Strelec, losing out to English Championship clubs in Norwich and Middlesbrough respectively, but agents and salary weren’t the reason for them being ‘disinterested’ in a move to Celtic.

Danish striker Kvistgaarden is reportedly on £30,000 a week at Norwich, whilst Slovakian international Strelec is on £17,500 a week at Middlesbrough. Both players were also purchased for similar fees of £6.5 million, so they were well within our own clubs price range.

A much publicised move for Danish international Kasper Dolberg also spectacularly failed, leaving Brendan Rodgers to turn to free agent Kelechi Iheanacho who incidentally he can’t even sign up again for this season despite the player being keen on a return to Celtic.

The January transfer window was yet another disaster, with the inability to sign a decent calibre of player, leading to a serious of ultimately unsuccessful loan deals.

Camilo Duran of Celtic FC celebrates a goal Sporting Lisbon v Celtic, Pre Season Friendly, Football, Estadio Algarve, Portugal – 14 July 2026. Photo Zed Jameson IMAGO/ Shutterstock

This window is proving to be just as difficult, with Colombian striker Camilo Duran our one and only signing to date, with the new campaign kicking off in just two weeks time.

The main problem here is not agents or the players themselves, it’s down to the sheer incompetence and lackadaisical attitude of Michael Nicholson and his chums, who are well and truly out of their depth when it comes to top level footballing dealings.

Nicholson is a lawyer who doesn’t have the skills to get these deals done. He  lacks the overall ability and experience to run footballing activities at a club as massive as Celtic. He is also hamstrung by the committee approach where every increase of over £200k in the lowball opening bid for a player has to get email approval from Dermot Desmond and other directors.

5th April 2026; Dens Park, Dundee, Scotland; Scottish Premiership Football, Dundee versus Celtic; Kelechi Iheanacho of Celtic applauds the fans

It’s well known that Michael is notoriously difficult to deal with. Any form of dialogue with him is said to be a chore, with agents not eager to deal with him. Remember last summer when Yang ready to sign for Birmingham City, the deal had been all but agreed, yet Nicholson didn’t return the Championship club’s calls. They opted for Paddy Roberts instead.

It’s not difficult to attract, and deal with the right calibre of player, it’s down to the individuals tasked with making the deals happen. Those individuals being Michael Nicholson as the Celtic CEO and his boardroom colleagues, all of whom are in dire need of replacing, if we want to be treated as a serious football club.

When it comes to selling this summer, like in many earlier transfer windows. Nicholson will be on the ball. Daizen will go for good money, a record breaking fee will be incoming for Arne Engels and we’ll even get good cash in the circumstances for Reo Hatate. And there will be one or two others going out the door for a good profit on top of those.

That will boost the bank balance and the share price but will alienate the support and discourage the manager who naively didn’t as for transfer assurances before agreeing to return to the job.

Michael Nicholson was an excellent behind the scenes senior executive at Celtic, dealing with the company structure, the football authorities especially UEFA and making Celtic a quality bluechip company from a legal and professional basis. That should be recognised.

But he is clearly not a leader. No front-man, no negotiator and no use at all as the Celtic CEO.  It’s time for him to stand aside.

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