The Nightmare Of Celtic Transfer Activity

As usual, as is their way, Celtic ended the summer Transfer Window in the Europa League after starting out in the Champions League.

Once again the same old problems re-surfaced as they lost out to an unseeded team that was properly prepared, organised and motivated. LASK are also ambitious, they fancied the big time of the Champions League rather than the consolation prize of Thursdays and Sundays.

And typical of Celtic they cranked up the signings in the final hours of the transfer window. The standard deflection exercise, this year with a job lot of loan signings to match those signed in January.

For many fans it was a great source of excitement as they speculated over the new look to the side. It didn’t take long for reality to kick in.

Committed to a £140 ticket package to watch a weakened Celtic side labour in the Europa League while trying to remain ahead domestically of their O** F*** business partners.

Michael Nicholson and Brian Wilson know the magic formula, they know the market.

Everything is reactionary.

Do the absolute minimum.

Every transfer window has the same targets. Turn over a profit and reduce the wage bill.

Brendan Rodgers railed against that strategy. He got his way in the summer of 2024 and produced 12 Champions League points and five blockbuster home matches.

Alas that will be the high water mark for this decade.

From the sale of Kyogo Furuhashi in January 2025 without bothering to find a replacement Nicholson and his cronies regained full control.

Success was achieved in October 2025 with the resignation of Rodgers.

Wilfried Nancy turned out to be a bigger dud than Nicholson.

CELTIC- THE MANAGED DECLINE THAT GOT OUT OF CONTROL

Martin O’Neill was re-appointed, the ultimate Company Man. Someone desperate to be in a job and full of praise for his uppers.

He even refers to a NED as the owner. And of course O’Neill refers to the vile, toxic Glasgow Derby by another name and thinks that it is a celebrated historic fixture.

NOTE TO MARTIN: The first league match between the two clubs was in September 2016.

An absolute wee toad. pic.twitter.com/Y0gnwnfZBe
— Bilbao Bhoys CSC (@BilbaoBhoysCSC) September 1, 2026

Celtic went into the Champions League Play Off against LASK with four new signings. After being stripped to the bone of quality over the three previous windows.

Two of the new players hadn’t started a match as a Celtic player. Signed in the week prior to the first leg, given a debut off the bench away to Dundee United. Fail to prepare and all that…

Nicholson had his targets in mind. He sold Daizen Maeda and Arne Engels but missed out on an Alistair Johnston windfall.

Incoming deals were typically slow.

Camilo Duran was announced as a Celtic signing on July 10. The previous day he had been pictured in his Celtic kit with a fan on holiday in Albafeira.

With Duran settled and scoring in pre-season Celtic decided to add another striker, on July 28 Anthony Joseph had the double story on Sky Sports:

Celtic have agreed a club-record £11m deal to sign Kasper Hogh from Bodo/Glimt, as Daizen Maeda joins newly promoted Premier League side Ipswich on a three-year deal; Denmark international Hogh has passed a medical before signing a four-year deal at Parkhead

Ahead of selling Engels to West Ham Celtic signed Mika Baur and Haissem Hassan.

They had less than a week to prepare for the first leg against LASK. Baur started both legs, Hassan sat on the bench for the return match as the tactics and substitutions of the management team were brutally exposed.

Post LASK the signings took a drastic turn for the worst.

SUPERMARKET SWEEP AS CELTIC SCOOP UP THE TRANSFER LEFTOVERS

Sam Johnstone and Oliver Sorenson have started two matches. It looks like O’Neill has already given up on both.

Shim Mheuka looks the real deal. A natural striker that has played just 30 minutes over five appearances.

Jordan Lotomba was given 10 minutes at Ibrox and lived up to the billing given to him by Feyenoord fans. Tony Ralston has came off the bench in the two defeats since.

Then we come to the two no-shows.

Joel van den Berg, a permanent signing, a £3.5m teenager from PSV Eindhoven hasn’t played a minute. After signing he was left out of the Europa League squad.

And the most bizarre and bonkers of all. Landon Emenalo from Chelsea, like all EPL teenagers he is highly regarded.

Emenalo is also injured, has never played a minute of senior football and hasn’t been spotted at Lennoxtown since he signed.

In the 2026 Annual Report Chairman Wilson revealed that the January loans were signed

The reduction in spend was in part down to a strategic decision in the January 2026 transfer window to adopt more loan signings with permanent transfer options in order to combine flexibility with the immediate strengthening of the playing squad.

Delivered with all the sincerity of a lifelong Labour politician.

WHAT NEXT FOR THE FAILED RECRUITMENT

Going into January Celtic now have accumulated four horrific bad transfer windows.

Fans know exactly what to expect next. Loan signings in order to combine flexibility with ‘immediate strengthening of the playing squad’. Without the immediate strengthening part.

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