Celtic Eye This Serie A Outcast: Should Martin O’Neill Press For Him? | OneFootball

A fresh transfer report has emerged linking Celtic with a move for Dutch left-midfielder Mitchel Bakker, 26 years old, who appears set to leave Atalanta before the window shuts. According to a report relayed via TransferFeed.com, the Scottish champions are one of several clubs monitoring the situation closely as the Bergamo outfit looks to trim its squad. Serie A sides and Turkish clubs have also been mentioned in connection with the player, who joined Atalanta in July 2023 on a deal running until June 2027.

Celtic eye Serie A outcast Mitchel Bakker in transfer hunt

Bakker played just nine minutes across one Serie A appearance throughout the entire 2025-26 campaign. His peripheral status at the club is fairly hard to dispute. Atalanta, for their part, are said to be actively seeking a solution that works for all parties. Transfermarkt currently places his market value at €2.50m.

Celtic’s left-back picture and why Bakker’s name has appeared

Martin O’Neill’s side pipped Hearts to the Scottish Premiership title on the final day of 2025-26, a campaign that exposed some very real squad depth issues at Parkhead. Celtic are known to be looking at reinforcing the left-back area, with questions still hanging over Marcelo Saracchi’s permanent future after his loan spell.

Kieran Tierney remains the first-choice option. The depth behind him has been thin. This is the precise context in which Bakker’s name makes a degree of sense, at least on the surface.

Should Celtic actually press for Mitchel Bakker

DUBLIN, IRELAND – MAY 22: Mitchel Bakker of Atalanta BC celebrates with the UEFA Europa League Trophy after his team’s victory during the UEFA Europa League 2023/24 final match between Atalanta BC and Bayer 04 Leverkusen at Dublin Arena on May 22, 2024 in Dublin, Ireland. (Photo by Alex Grimm/Getty Images)

Here is the honest part. Bakker’s CV carries names that catch the eye. Ajax, PSG, Lille, Bayer Leverkusen, and an Atalanta Europa League winner’s medal from 2023-24. With 21 Netherlands Under-21 caps, the pedigree is there in theory.

Theory and practice are drifting apart at some pace right now. A single Serie A appearance totalling nine minutes in 2025-26 is not a blip. That is a player who has essentially been frozen out at a club where he earns around €54,000 per week, according to Capology data. The fact that Atalanta loaned him to their own Serie C second side during that same campaign tells you everything you need to know about his standing in the first-team picture. Head coach Maurizio Sarri demands total tactical fluency from every squad member, and Bakker simply could not force his way in.

Does any of that make him a bad footballer? Not necessarily. He is 26, still in what should be his development peak, left-footed, comfortable in a high-press system, and available for a transfer fee that Celtic could meet without breaking a sweat. The attraction is obvious.

Still, there is reason to be hesitant. The concern isn’t the price or even the age. It is the trajectory. A player who has stagnated badly across two seasons in Italy may arrive at Celtic needing significant time to rebuild confidence and sharpness. O’Neill, who is no stranger to galvanising forgotten men, may see that as a project worth taking on. Whether Celtic’s fans would share that patience, especially with European football on the agenda again next season, is a very different question.