Clock is ticking as Celtic dilly-dally in transfer market | OneFootball

Three weeks until the start of the season, Celtic urgently needs to be more proactive in the transfer market…

Midseason Friendly, Tolka Park, Dublin 7/7/2026 Shelbourne vs Celtic .Celtic manager Martin O’Neill. Photo IMAGO

That’s correct, the upcoming season is only three weeks away, and rather worryingly, we have still to improve the overall quality of our fragile squad.

It’s like Groundhog Day, in that we always proclaim to improve on our failures, learn our lessons and so on but here we are yet again, guilty of the same old incompetence on the recruitment front.

Camilo Duran, Celtic new summer signing. Image Celtic FC

Camilo Duran is our one and only signing to date, and of course there is the recent capture of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who was part of last season’s squad, so he’s not what you would class as a new signing.

Kasper Schmeichel has retired, and Kelechi Iheancaho, despite being linked with a return, is also absent from last season’s squad, so we are very much weaker than when we were when we signed off with a Scottish Cup win back in late May.

Iheancaho it was said, suffered from not having a full pre-season at the club, joining Celtic the day after the summer 2025 transfer window closed as a free agent. He was in the building and keen to extend is stay after the Scottish Cup final in May. Yet Celtic did nothing until making him an offer this week. If it’s not an outrageous lowball job the Nigerian international could join the squad but will have missed weeks of pre-season. Crazy really when you think about it.

The likes of Daizen Maeda, and Arne Engels won’t be at the club much longer with bids expected for both players in the coming weeks, whilst Reo Hatate and a few others such as Paulo Bernardo also looks to have played his last game for the club, making it a top priority to have new faces in the squad so they can be bedded in for the upcoming campaign.

Plenty of players have been linked with a move, but as always, it’s mere speculation and nothing concrete.

We have the financial resources to complete such deals, but those whose job it is to conclude these deals are very much incapable of doing so. Which is what frustrates us as supporters, and I’m guessing it’s the same for Martin O’Neill.

Our rivals are busy strengthening their respective squads, whilst we seem to be sitting on our hands.

It’s time Celtic got proactive in the transfer market, and hand Martin O’Neill the players he needs to avoid the sort of scenario we were subjected to last term.

It took Michael Nicholson 18 months to replace Kyogo with what looks like a decent signing. But Duran alone is nowhere near enough, with the squad needing multiple additions even before we factor in replacing those about to go, including our talisman Daizen Maeda.

Just an Ordinary Bhoy

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