On Tuesday July 1 the bulk of the Celtic squad will report for pre-season training at Lennoxtown with most eyes fixed on transfers, incoming and outgoing. With as much concern as expectation.
Without the injured duo of Reo Hatate and Jota the first team squad looked very weak as the finishing XI in the Scottish Cup Final demonstrated. Often supporters look to the bench to see what options are there, when five of them finish up on the pitch the lack of depth and quality becomes very obvious.
Upgrading the squad is the target over the next few weeks to produce a Starting XI and a strong substitute bench that can go the distance in Scotland and match the 24/25 Champions League campaign- after navigating through a Play Off tie.
🚨⚪️🟢 Benjamin Nygren to Celtic, here we go! Deal done with Nordsjælland for €1.5m transfer fee.
Contract until June 2029 plus option until 2030. pic.twitter.com/eIn52Guodj
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) June 21, 2025
☘️🇧🇪 Celtic FC has not forgotten Michel-Ange Balikwisha! Several internal factors on the part of the Scottish club’s management have slowed down the deal, but both the Green and Whites and the player are keen to see it go through.
🔴⚪️ Royal Antwerp FC is asking for €6 million… pic.twitter.com/m7Z5SV8eLl— Sacha Tavolieri (@sachatavolieri) June 24, 2025
Sunderland discute avec Yverdon Sport pour Moussa Baradji (24 ans). Le club anglais apprécie le profil du Franco-Malien, auteur de 4 buts et 3 passes cette saison. Il faudra près de 3 M€ pour le recruter.
Détails👉 https://t.co/UDRoXu7ri8#Sunderland #YverdonSportFC #Mercato… pic.twitter.com/2CQWsDLwix
— africafoot.com (@Africafoot_com) June 23, 2025
What every fan is looking for over the summer falls into three categories, all of them carrying a high degree of difficulty.
Recruit better, first team ready players
All of the data is out there, agents are buzzing around drumming up business with players surely attracted to a club that impressed in the 2024/25 Champions League and is one Play Off tie away from the 25/26 competition and the real prospect of 10 very meaningful, high profile matches.
Retain the main players, the backbone of recent successes
Celtic fans are used to seeing players move on with Jota, Matt O’Riley and Kyogo Furuhashi sold over the last four windows- the attacking guts of the season 22/23 treble winners. Jota has returned but there is clearly interest in Nicolas Kuhn, Daizen Maeda, Reo Hatate and Cameron Carter-Vickers based on their Champions League displays.
One departure seems inevitable, two would become high risk with recruitment since the brilliant deals of Ange Postecoglou and Frank Trimboli in season 21.22 at best questionable.
Get rid of the deadwood
Possibly the hardest task of all, effectively the job lot of sub-standard arrivals brought in by Mark Lawwell in the summer of 2023.
Out of those seven signings they contributed only 13 starting appearances in last season’s SPFL Premiership with most of them coming down to Yang Hyun-jun. If Marco Tilio, Luis Palma, Kwon Hyeok-kyu, Odin Tiago Holm, Gus Lagerbielke and Maik Nawrocki can be moved on it will be a major achievement, contracts running until June 2028 will be very difficult to overcome.
Who is Celtic’s number one transfer target?
Without question Lennon Miller really has to be Celtic’s priority signing.
After two seasons at Motherwell, and with one season left on his contract it seems inevitable that the midfielder will be moving on before the end of August.
Miller was a one stage in the Celtic Academy but opted to move to Motherwell- no one can deny that it was a wise choice with 76 first team appearances while Celtic equivalents have been treading water in the Lowland League.
There is a sweet spot in players’ careers, Miller is at that point just now with a step up required, another season at Fir Park could see his career stagnate, moving abroad carries a higher element of risk than moving to Celtic and working under Rodgers.
With talents like Matt O’Riley, Ryan Christie and Stuart Armstrong at Celtic Rodgers has shown himself very capable of developing talent as recognised by Brighton, Bournemouth and Southampton, three clubs that do their homework before reaching for the cheque book.
Rodgers has previously complimented Miller, convincing Michael Nicholson that the midfielder is a worthwhile investment is another matter and could have a bearing on the future of the manager. Fans will be hoping that it isn’t John McGinn II.
The manager is of course under contract until June 2026, many fans will relate the level of transfer activity to the prospects of the Irishman extending his stay as manager.
Money is the main motivating factor in most transfers but closely behind that is position and likely playing time which is all related to the situation of the manager.
Rodgers knows the terrain better than anyone, the events of season 2018/19 leading up to his departure to Leicester won’t be forgotten but Rodgers II is a more reflective, diplomatic character than the guy that turned the club around, normalising Trebles when he first arrived in May 2016, indirectly influencing a cup final the day after his appointment was announced.
Paul Tisdale does have a still undefined role in transfer activity but with every signing it will be the role of Rodgers and his comments that will be examined most closely.
Where are Celtic looking to strengthen?
Despite recent success there is a need for almost all areas to be strengthened. A striker is badly needed after the sale of Kyogo, injury to Jota and speculation over Kuhn departing means that one possibly two wingers are required.
Midfield is reasonably covered, in defence a left-sided Carter-Vickers would be very welcome alongside a ready-to-play back up to Kieran Tierney.
What deals have been done?
Kieran Tierney and Ross Doohan have been announced by the club, both returning to their Academy club but in vastly different circumstances. Fabrizio Romano has tweeted that Benjamin Nygren has agreed a deal but the official club stamp has still to be applied
Who to follow for Celtic transfer news?
Stephen McGowan, now part of Newsquest which covers The Herald, Celtic Way and Glasgow Times is the number one authority on Celtic transfer activity with a record stretching back 20 years.
David Friel, like McGowan a former Celtic View reporter now at The Sun tends to get far more right than wrong, he knew all about Neil Lennon’s sacking in February 2021, well before the Stock Market announcement. Very, very few were in on that.
Scott Burns at the Daily Record has decent contacts among football agents, he can get carried away on matters at Ibrox but does have a decent track record on matters in and out of Celtic Park.
On Twitter Celtic Gossip has over 76,000 followers, when things are happening or being reported Celtic Gossip are quickly on the case as is Everything Celtic with a similar number of followers on Twitter.
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