Celtic sits at the top of the Scottish Premiership table as of this, the first international break on the schedule—the club’s player recruitment department, it seems, remains situated squarely on the fence.
At least that’s the general consensus following a summer transfer window that saw two key members of last season’s squad (striker Adam Idah and winger Nicolas Kuhn) leave with no clear replacements coming back to Glasgow.
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As the argument goes, this continues on a trend. Last summer, midfielder Matt O’Riley departed for Brighton and was ostensibly replaced by Arne Engels and Paulo Bernardo (for a combined £15 million in transfer fees). Sadly, neither Engels (still our sleeper pick for Player of the Year—we’re not hedging our bets yet) nor Bernardo has featured prominently so far this campaign, and neither has exactly shined brightly when they have made it to the pitch.
Now, Celtic have made a third attempt at replacing O’Riley—this time in the form of Swede Benjamin Nygren—but still apparently have been unable to secure a suitable (and cost-effective) replacement for striker Kyogo, who left in January.
In what was a chaotic last two days of the summer transfer window (if only Sunday’s Glasgow derby featured half as much drama), the Hoops signed two wingers, Michel-Ange Balikwisha and Sebastian Tounekti (for a combined £11 million), who have played primarily on the left so far in their careers, but no right-sided wingers like Kuhn.
The Hoops’ best attacking player, Daizen Maeda, is also a left-winger. At the same time, they rescued free agent Kelechi Iheanacho from Sevilla’s scrap heap. The Nigerian’s reward will be becoming a living testament to the Celtic board’s “woeful” transfer record.
Indeed, players and managers routinely talk about the unique pressure playing for Celtic and Rangers: Glasgow’s big two are expected to win week in and week out. As a result, players are given little slack, even those who come to these clubs having been lifelong supporters. Idah scored 20 goals last season in a largely part-time role; still, a large segment of the Celtic support couldn’t wait to get him out the door. In the recent past, Shane Duffy and James McCarthy have arrived at Celtic with much fanfare only to (relatively) quickly become the targets of scorn and ridicule.
James Forrest has been a first-team stalwart for 17 seasons. That hasn’t merited a song from the terraces, apparently. Meanwhile, the stress of running these clubs is rarely discussed. As we have seen, though, particularly with the seemingly constant upheaval in the Rangers’ hierarchy in recent years, collective praise is rare and every mistake is magnified.
Think about it: Celtic have won the league in 13 of the past 14 seasons. Somehow, nearly every transfer window during that period has been a “disaster.”
Yes, we know, the proving ground for the Hoops lies in Europe, where Idah’s swansong was a missed penalty and several summer signings failed to make Brendan Rodgers’ Europa League squad. So, are the transfer window critics onto something? Undoubtedly.
But count us among those who prefer to wait until the season plays out before we cast the first stone.