A recurring gripe I have had about our transfer business last season was the lack of players bought with development scope ahead of them. £26m was spent on Auston Trusty, Adam Idah and Arne Engels. Arne might be able to nudge his £11m price tag up a shade, but I doubt we will see our money back on the other two.
Viljami Sinisalo and Paulo Bernardo (who signed permanently in August 2024) are the exceptions. Viljami featured when Kasper Schmeichel was injured and Paulo featured less-often than during his loan season. They came in with the right profile, but have yet to be properly developed.
With Callum Osmand, who joined yesterday from Fulham as a free agent, we have orientated back to plan. Osmand (19) is exactly the kind of player we should be looking for. Like Moussa Dembele and Matt O’Riley, he has come through the development system at Fulham, but believes he will see better opportunities at Celtic than waiting around looking for a gap to open up which will not be filled by a big money signing.
Time will tell if the scouting was good, if Callum will get the chances he has clearly been suggested are open to him, and if he can kick on. A high percentage of all signings fail, but at least we appear to be working to a coherent plan.
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A blend of the two seems the most sensible way to progress.
Adam Idah scored twice at Villa and generally gave their backline a hard time.
English teams are always on the lookout for robust forwards. I still remain confident we’ll see a return on that investment.
In the meantime let’s hope he has a great season.
Wednesday eve!
3 day weekend ahead. American’s only celebrate kicking the Brits out one day a year.
July…start of the mad season!!
I think the possession, high press style we play requires an experienced back 4. Trusty was brought in for that reason and now Tierney (who will improve Trusty)
We overpaid for the 2 projects at CB in 2023.
Engels is a class player and I think he will be even better this season.
Idah was never worth 9m but in the circumstances, that is what Norwich could get. Not having another alternative was a real bottomer at the time but he has done his bit.
Signing Little Jimmy Osmand is good business but we need an experienced no9 to replace Kyogo.
PS Kenny probably for the off now
Borgo67
Couldn’t agree more. I assume too that Paul67 agrees as well so not sure why he gives the impression, to this reader at least, that projects and getting many times the outlay back is the ONLY way. We are a football club whose main role is to be competitive and win tournaments at home and be competitive in Europe. We will never do either with ‘development potential’ but as you say with a prudent mixture of player profiles, progression and readiness for first team football
Idah has already paid for himself with the Champions League money we got after he won us the league. That’s how it works.
Welcome Callum!
“Time will tell if the scouting was good, if Callum will get the chances he has clearly been suggested are open to him, and if he can kick on. A high percentage of all signings fail, but at least we appear to be working to a coherent plan.”
Absolutely, we seem to have a phenomenal plan in place….
Callum Osmand:-
“…He [Brendan Rodgers] was telling me about how big the club is, how amazing the fans are and it’s a new life really,” Osmand told Celtic TV.
“So, ‘excited’ is definitely the word for me. It feels unbelievable. It’s a massive move and I can’t wait to step out at Celtic Park in front of all the fans.
“When I spoke to the manager, he was really positive. The plan and pathway he has set out for the club is top.”
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers told his club website: “He’s a quick and powerful striker and I’m really looking forward to working with him.
“I’m sure he can be really successful with us. He is a highly-rated, talented young player.”
This is huge, we have a real solid plan and our signings are buying into big time.
If we are to be a top 24 UCL team this is completely necessary.
“A recurring gripe I have had about our transfer business last season was the lack of players bought with development scope ahead of them. £26m was spent on Auston Trusty, Adam Idah and Arne Engles. Arne might be able to nudge his £11m price tag up a shade, but I doubt we will see our money back on the other two.”
A kinda noticed the gripe:)))
Yet like I stated t’uther day.
For me this is wrong mindedness.
Player recruitment in not a football clubs revenue stream, player recruitment is about getting an excellent football team.
Of course to make good recruitment sustainable the costs must be controlled and mitigated.
Yet, there is more than one way to skin a cat…
KT has already added 10 mn to the value of our squad
Doohan given opportunities will add value over and above his fee
Benjamin Nygren will more than double his value by Christmas all things being equal
Callum has got the potential to be a 10 mn player by 21 y.o.
So it all works…
The reason we had to pay top Dollar for Trusty, Idah and Engels was simply the lack of planning in 2023.
Short, medium, long term squad planning must be a constant.
In 2023 we looked at signings that were young, that had potential to grow in cost and we were quite prepared to take a “HIt”, on their transfer fees – “A high percentage of all signings fail” is not a viable option.
Yes the risk can be costed and swallowed
Yet we had to replace the failing development players.
Arne for Odin
Trusty for Lagerbielke
Adam for Oh
That’s the reality, so when the totally cost of high percentage failings is taken in to account it is not sustainable in either a financial sense or football sense.
It is literally buy cheap, buy twice.
I get we can’t rely on expensive signings it’s not sustainable either but our current smart recruitment planning knocks it out the park.
Welcome Callum, glad you were impressed by the man with the plan.
Hail Hail
Paul67
Paddy Roberts Moussa Dembele Matt O’Riley Callum Osmand – development clearly isn’t working for someone and FulhamQuickNews is in meltdown.
Four players signed so far, the ‘recruitment metric’ doesn’t alter daily we don’t discriminate amongst good players.
History has taught us net spend will be zero and the ‘tens of millions’ will still be safely vaulted.
Relax CSC
Taylor is gone. Thanks for the service wee man.
https://x.com/CelticFC/status/1940005070180868512?s=08
While the “Project” philosophy is sound it is only as good as the recruitment team and the analytics they utilise.
Imagine we make rwo Dembele and O’Riley type signings every year, and after two years of them getting us to the Champions League we then sell them on for £20M apiece. This continues year after year with players arriving for next to nothing, performing really well in the Champions League, and then being sold for millions what do we do with the money that continually accumulates in our bank account?
There are no plans to upgrade the stadium, the Board won’t lower season ticket prices, the “rainy day” fund would be that large the club would survive a flood of biblical proportions that would destroy every other club in the league.
While we all recognise having a healthy bank balance is prudent, how much is enough and what is the long term plan ?
Borgo67 @ 12:07 pm,
Totally agree…
Adam Idah has the attributes to make him a very valuable player indeed.
I posted on another site an observation from the book “Atomic Habits”
“One of Clear’s most fascinating points is that success is often a matching problem—a combination of natural ability and dedicated effort. He uses the example of two world-class athletes: Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps and elite Moroccan runner Hicham El Guerrouj.
Even though Phelps and El Guerrouj both reached the pinnacle of their respective sports, their bodies are built completely differently. Phelps, at 6’4”, has a long torso and relatively short legs, which makes him naturally suited for swimming. El Guerrouj, who is much shorter at 5’9”, has long legs and a shorter torso, making him an ideal middle-distance runner. If they had swapped sports, their natural builds would have put them at a disadvantage.”
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/ilovetowatchyouplay.com/2025/02/07/james-clears-secrets-on-to-help-athletes-excel/amp/
The fact is Kyogo’s talents as a striker are very recognisable and cherished.
Yet he’s never going to have the height and physicality of an Oh or an Idah…
Some maybe surprised by Oh’s value rocketing with so little game time – I was not, his attributes are very sought after.
Adam Idah’s transfer could have been handled a lot smarter for sure but his value to the team is indisputable.
Hail Hail
Hail Hail
Someone signed off the £11m, £7.5m, and £6m unconditional fees paid for Arne, Adam and Auston.
I doubt it was the manager.
You say the Osmand capture shows signs we appear to be working to a coherent plan, Paul?
Are you suggesting previous transfer activity – which saw Celtic commit c.25% of annual turnover to buy 3 players – was done without coherent planning?
Hmm.
To all those folk on here who take an interest
geopolitics and world affairs…
HAPPY CANADA DAY!
T
We spent significant money on Improvement to Celtic Park, Barrow field and Lennoxtown.
We will invest in the playing staff both players and coaches. 4 players in so far. 2 maybe 3 on large wages. Our wage bill will be higher next season.
Of course there is a plan for redevelopment of Main stand but factors have not all been triggered yet. European football is currently at a crossroads and may affect our decisions.
CELTIC are considering a £1.7million bid for frozen-out Gustaf Lagerbielke from SC Braga.
@CQN MAG
Seven senior Centre Backs at the club is maybe at least two or three, too many Lagerbielke, Scales, Trusty, Nawrocki, CCV, Welsh, Murray.
Gustav Lagerbielke looks likely to be sold, and Stephen Welsh may stay on in Belgium. Dane Murray likely to go on loan also?
Maik Nawrocki a full two years after his transfer has never put together a run in the side, destined to move on? – or will the Polish player linked again with a return to his homeland finally step up in his third season.
This leaves CCV, Trusty, and Scales and it’ll be interesting to see what BR does in this summer window with regards to Centre Backs.
Paul,
as others have mentioned, it isn’t all about getting profit from cheap buys. It is also about maintaining, and occasionally improving the quality of the squad. Not many (or any) on this blog would be happy with a couple of years of not being Champions, in the hope of making big profits. It is a delicate balance, a balance where we don’t have complete control. Players decide when they leave, or decide not to join us, or their current club want more than we want to pay.
So, if we want to make the last 16 (or better) in the UCL, we need to keep most of our better players. Or buy 24 year olds rather than 19 year olds.
If you are suggesting that, recently, we have not bought many players with great profit potential, then fair enough. We should have cycles where a more experienced squad has a go at Europe, and our profits on sales might be dampened. This, of course, would be followed by a younger squad leading to an uptake in profits.
As long as we continue to win the league 13 out of every 14 years….
Cheers,
Weeron
Good luck to Greg Taylor out in Greece and also Panathinaikos, in a few weeks😁. Young Osmand looks a bit of a livewire, very quick and looks to have a nice touch and good control. 🤞
BACK TO BASICS – GLASS HALF FULL on 1ST JULY 2025 12:45 PM
“Are you suggesting previous transfer activity – which saw Celtic commit c.25% of annual turnover to buy 3 players – was done without coherent planning?”
Not addressed to me but since Paul won’t answer…
I think it was, poor planning, even worse execution. Trusty had finished a season as the centre back of the worst defensive team in the history of the EPL, we broke our transfer record for a bench player at a mid table championship team because he did well for us for 6 months in domestic football, we seem to have overpaid for Engels because, according to the manager, he’d sell for £30-40m.
There was very little planning, abd very little joined up thinking.
Tobago Street on 1st July 2025 12:47 pm….
Yes, Happy Canada Day to everybody. I am in my 49th year here in Canada. It seems like a lifetime since I left Islay for a career with The Hudson’s Bay Company in the Arctic.
I wouldn’t change a thing.
Cheers,
Weeron.
Yawn!!!
Here we go again. The Celtic Retail PLC might not make enough profit on 3 of its players.
If only we were a football club and had used these three players in over 120 games between them last season romping the league, winning a cup and progressing in Europe and doing their share in earning the club over 59m in competitive revenue last season
I hope he’s given the chance to develop. Matt O’Riley is a great example to someone like Callum of the opportunities that Celtic can offer to a player with a career plan, but it took 18 months from him leaving Fulham to signing for Celtic having made a few first team squads there. As far as I know Callum is yet to make it into a first team match squad so he’s probably way behind Matt or Moussa when they signed for us.
Could be wrong of course, and the recruitment team have identified a player who can go straight into the first team, which would be very nice.
What is clear is that Celtic remain an attractive club for young players with a career plan. Long may it continue
The article couldn’t quite stretch to name the manager, Brendan Rodgers
Ach well, maybe next time
Celtic40me @ 1:32 pm,
Callum O gave an interview when he arrived.
It is well worth reading.
Callum was not brought in as a first team starter but as a bhoy on a pathway.
Of course he has played in Premier League 2 which is a very high standard.
He seems to have good physicality for a 19 y.o. so perhaps he will be up for the rigours of the SPL in jig time.
Hail Hail
CHAIRBHOY on 1ST JULY 2025 1:45 PM
“Callum O gave an interview when he arrived.
It is well worth reading.”
I posted it yesterday, not just what he said about Brendan as well :)
You can relax, it wasnt a trap ;)))
celtic40me @ 1:52 pm,
Oops…
Apologies
Been a busy few days so have just skim read the blog.
Thought this was interesting..
…”And the pathway he has for me and the set out of what he wants for me, he’s told me what he wants for me, and it’s all really, really positive and I can’t wait to get going.”
Maybe a Shaun Maloney bhoy…
If it’s a success, let’s have a real conveyor belt.
Hail Hail
Osmand may or not work out
But
1. there cannot be one size fits all accepting a bias towards developing younger players to some extent
2. the key phrase is “Value” not age – value for Celtic can come at many age and price points – see Schmeichel
3. the teen market is scouted to shit, a trend increasing before UEFA FSR ordinances dictated big clubs needed to back fill their squads with younger cheaper talent to offset the huge sums spent on star wages
4. the “it didn’t work out first time around at a big club” low 20s market remains fertile due to inherent inefficiencies in the system eg CCV, Jota, Kuhn, Nygren
Chairbhoy
To be clear we made significant money on Oh
Not sure if we will on the other 2 Odin and The Swede. Neither given a chance. We should have though.
As for Engels (was a Belgian player and is not now) Idah ? and Trusty. I would not be sure that we will make any more from those at net level than the 3 you mention as failures. Let’s wait and see. Also small matter of £24m more outlay too.
Well said Alan
I guess I was being kind there as there is the significant salary differential for these players also. But feeling charitable.
For every Callum Osmand there’s a Ben Hutchinson
CHAIRBHOY
“Player recruitment in not a football clubs revenue stream, player recruitment is about getting an excellent football team.”
The plan, obviously is to get both. It would be an idiotic plan to sign players and sell them for big money without them contributing to the first team.
Matt O’Riley 100% fitted the development strategy, he also played 120 games for Celtic and was the best player in Scotland and our best player in tge championship league. Good enough to be wanted by a club thats playing in the world club cup.
He made us better and contributed more than any of the signings last summer
Celtic By Numbers @ 1:57 pm,
Interesting stuff as per….
Picked this up somewhere…
“Staggering stats. 97% of former cat 1 academy players now aged 21 to 26 never made an EPL appearance.
70% weren’t handed a pro contract at an EPL or EFL club. And only 1 in 10 went on to make more than 20 league appearances in the top four tiers of English football.
There will be some absolute world beaters that haven’t made the grade because they don’t fit the clubs ethos & have unfortunately fell by the wayside
As you say, could be a rich seam of littlr mined potential.
Hail Hail
I notice Feyenoord had a £9m bid for Oh rejected yesterday by Genk. Maybe we will get a kick back on whatever he goes for.
Another Lawwell dud eh. They just keep making us money and giving some bitter folk a chance to moan.
CHAIRBHOY on 1ST JULY 2025 1:57 PM
Like I said, I saw it. Let’s hope so, it’s part of his job, after all, and better late than never
Celtic40me @ 2:02 pm,
Well, there are great examples, no doubts.
Yet howany of the 100 players between VvD and Matt made it?
That’s a big issue, we have a decade of data that tells us what works and what doesn’t.
“A high percentage of all signings fail”
Is far too sore on the Club’s limited resources
Hail Hail
Burnley78 on 1st July 2025 2:03 pm
I notice Feyenoord had a £9m bid for Oh rejected yesterday by Genk. Maybe we will get a kick back on whatever he goes for.
Another Lawwell dud eh. They just keep making us money and giving some bitter folk a chance to moan.
————————————————
I did remark at the time Celtic should have kept Oh and passed on Idah.
Oh was signed when Postecoglou/Trimboli and CAA Base ruled the roost often working against the internal recruitment team who were given free reign in 23-24 Summer for the window from hell
I can’t even be bothered to get into Lawwellball given entrenched attitudes on all sides :)