Celtic delayed announcing the arrival of Sebastian Tounekti (23) from Hammarby until the moment the transfer window closed. This felt like a tacit acceptance that supporter expectation would not be satisfied if the announcement came earlier in the day, and no others arrived in the evening.
Brendan Rodgers let us know he had a veto on the departure of Adam Idah and would not agree to his move to Swansea until a replacement arrived. You and I could reasonably expect Adam’s move was confirmation a replacement was on his way. We were wrong (and I am not prepared to get enthusiastic about out of contract players).
Let’s look at the substance. Celtic signed 10 players in the summer transfer window, eight on permanent contracts and two defenders on loans. Tounekti was the most expensive at £5.2m. The Norway-born Tunisia international spent only six months at Hammarby, in which time his transfer fee quadrupled. Our fee feels high.
Sebastian joins Michel-Ange Balikwisha (24), who arrived for £5m from Royal Antwerp. Thrown in at the deep end on Sunday, Michel-Ange did well enough for a player who hardly knew anyone on the field.
Our most important signing so far is Benjamin Nygren (23). Benji has already scored three league goals, times runs into the box and shows real purpose defending and on attack. He is clearly not a winger and will hopefully only be seen wide in emergency circumstances, or when we are trying to close a game out.
Kieran Tierney (28) returned to great fanfare. KT is the best player to emerge from the Celtic youth setup in 15 years. His engine allows him to get up and down the field and he is the best crosser at the club (that we know about). He has yet to reach full fitness and will continue to improve as he gets there.
We signed a striker!!! Shin Yamada (25) arrived from Kawasaki Frontale for £1.4m. I expect Shin was recruited as a player we could develop over the season. That plan may now be reconsidered, post Idah departure. Callum Osmand (19) joins the front-line options from Fulham, but we have yet to see him in competitive action.
Left-sided defender Hayato Inamura (23) came in from Albirex Niigata. Last month Brendan Rodgers suggested the player was not ready for Celtic action and may be sent out on loan. Plans change, I suppose. Ross Doohan (27) arrived back at the club to fill the role as third choice goalkeeper.
Two defenders came in on loan: left back Marcelo Saracchi (27), the Uruguayan international, who joins from Boca Juniors, and central defender Jahmai Simpson-Pusey (19), who came in from Manchester City.
Out of the building went Nicolas Kuhn (25) to Como for £15m. This departure so early in the window was inexplicable. Greg Taylor (27) left on a free and is already missed by many in the support.
Braga paid £2.4m for Gus Lagerbielke (25), Rapid Vienna paid £1.2m for Marco Tilio (24), while Ligue 1 side Nantes took Hyeok-kyu Kwon (24) for £200k. The development of Kwon, like Gus and Marco, will be interesting to watch in the season ahead. I’m thinking Oh, but we will discuss that particular player later this week.
As well as the aforementioned Idah (24) leaving for £7m to Swansea, Scott Bain left for Falkirk. Luis Palma (Lech Poznan) and Maik Nawrocki (Hannover 96) went out on loan.
I have seen new Celtic arrivals mistakenly written off too many times to fall into that trap, but we are on safe ground to say this transfer window was poorly conceived and terribly executed (the former resulted in the latter). The possible arrival of an out of contract striker will change this, I would rather we did nothing and develop Shin and Johnny Kenny instead.
Lots to say about the Kasper Dolberg fiasco tomorrow. He encapsulates our poorly conceived window and why we ended up as we did.
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i see some suggestion for an organised walk-out at one of our home fixtures – how will that be different from any other game ?
Mistertaximan @ 3:49 pm,
“The consensus is that the team is now weaker than it was last season, but is that fair?”……
Very well laid out and clear concise post.
However there are two points, the first is the main point of your post – are we weaker?
Now the fact is the premise is a misnomer.
We needed to strengthen, Brendan Rodgers doesn’t generally use the “squad”, he utilises the “group”.
That is the key players that get us through the season.
It simply didn’t have the strength in depth we needed for last seasons campaigns.
It showed generally in the tail off in performance after Christmas and specifically in the Bayern game at the Allianz Arena, where we did not have the quality on the bench to get us over the line after a superb performance.
So like the manager said we needed more quality, that is more players and better quality.
That wasn’t to improve on 2024-25, that was to maintain the level we had reached.
Now to your main point, are we weaker?
Let’s get to the heart of the matter, our attack, you seem to suggest that we are at status quo here…
“Attack: On 31/12/24, our main attackers were Kuhn, Kyogo, and Maeda, with Idah as backup striker. After the winter window, that became Kuhn, Maeda, and Jota, again with Idah as back-up. All this chat about not replacing Kyogo is a squirrel. Jota replaced Kyogo, while Maeda moved to the striker role that he plays for Japan and had also played at Yokohama.
Firstly let me say that losing Kyogo in January was a real blow, the manager was given the understanding that he was going to be replaced in that window and he wasn’t.
The argument that Jota was his replacement was bogus for a number of reasons.
1. Jota was not match fit, having played little football since he left Celtic
2. Jota playing on the left allowing Maeda to come in as the main striker was an option, not the norm
3. Maeda does play that position for the Japan NT, yet not as an out and out striker – they have other players for that, Maeda plays that position when the Japan manager wants a high press, the relentless harrying and movement from Daizen makes him the first defender, very effective but utilised very sparingly and not for goals.
Kuhn was our most effective player in the UCL, his link up play down the right with Alister Johnston and Arne Engels was highly effective, as an out ball, as a source of goals and assists.
It was many, many hours of coaching, playing and tactical nouse that made that effective.
That can’t be easily replicated overnight.
Maeda – Kyogo – Kuhn – main attacking line up
Maeda – Idah – Kuhn
Jota – Maeda – Kuhn
Jota – Idah – Kuhn
We had Yang and James Forrest as back up wingers and Johnny Kenny as back up Centre Forward.
Interchangeable with all the above from the bench or sometimes as starters.
We sold Kyogo in January
We lost Jota to injury in April
We sold Kuhn in July
Maeda has been off form since his wife gave birth in Japan
Idah was sold in September
Now most teams could deal with one or two of those events before it seriously impacts the team.
Three events and the team is well below par.
Five – and we are definitely far weaker.
The dynamic of a team can’t simply be maintained when three, four or five key forward players are missing.
Now getting back to the main point, in January 2025 we had to strengthen and refresh the team for the six gruelling months ahead.
We did not do that so were clearly much weaker by the end of the season.
We totally failed to prepare the team for the UCL games and now are weaker again the up and coming season.
Of course we hope the new bhoys come good and I’m quietly confident some will – yet you transition your main player group to maintain any type of consistency.
Hail Hail
3. Maeda does play that position for the Japan NT, yet not as an out and out striker – they have other players for that, Maeda plays that position when the Japan manager wants a high press, the relentless harrying and movement from Daizen makes him the first defender, very effective but utilised very sparingly and not for goals.
————
v v pertinant point.
i had a look at daizens games for Japan, in the most recent world cup group 9like 14 games btw0 he played 7 times on the left wing and only once in the centrer.
it is a misrepresentation that he plays cf for japan.
Saint Stivs @ 7:51 pm,
Yes, Spot on.
That’s where Ange played him well.
He was very effective against Spain in the world cup, yet, it’s a specialist position not the norm.
Hail Hail
Who cares. Celtic need ……needed a Center forward capable of holding the ball up and getting us up the pitch. Maeda has brick boots and can’t do that. Kenny not strong enough. Yamada shows up in those positions but was fouled galore.
That’s why we chase Bamford or Iniacha
bournesouprecipe on 2nd September 2025 12:20 pm
Chairbhoy 12.01
“ I get up in the morning… go on to soccer sites… see what’s happening… I watch a lot of matches… I see every Celtic match… I don’t have to spend 365 days in Celtic Park to be a good, faithful devotee of Celtic.”
Dermot Desmond
Soccer? He called it ‘soccer’. Celtic fan my arse.
And he sees every match? He must have a dodgy fire stick like me.
We got £8 million last summer for Mikey Johnston and Bosun Lawal,2 squad players who would never be regular starters,and these clowns are trying to lowball for established players in better leagues than ours,embarrassing the Club.
clunks on 2nd September 2025 6:58 pm
“now we are dicking about with bamford
We would be as well getting ian wright and fecking robbie keane in”
………
Timdom’s ability to see in a straight line died the day that you dicked about with Ernie Lynch’s CQN password, and banned CANAMALAR for trying to save lives with the truth during the covid scamdemic.
Eye it did.
Rodgers has been sussed nothing but rid necks lie ahead.
No I banned those fecking lunatics
https://youtu.be/z5qu0Ycmgcg?si=jSTspWGBaLYlLJHw
You must have changed about 100 emails to keep registering new names too!!
You spent months lying yer lying ass off about knowing anything about it.
Hundreds of CQN concerned citizens banned by a sweety wife narrative believer.
I wonder if honest BMCWP from honest Sentinelcelts knows that he too was covering for genocidal maniacs who deleted all of their government documentation about how THEY lied their asses off about how safe and effective the vaccine was, etc, etc, etc??????
clunks on 2nd September 2025 8:30 pm
You must have changed about 100 emails to keep registering new names too!!
…….
It would be a fool who would give a real email address to a guy who speaks out of both sides of his mouth, not a single word of truth being uttered by you.
Hundreds of emails registered by you
And still you keep registering new ones to come on here and spout yer pish!!!
A plague of kevjungles!!
Rodgers is a fake –
are you ok? you seem a bit tetchy today
Celtic will sweep up and Brussel Martin will be back home by January I predict as our support and manager will galvanise and help each other and we will push out the current custodians by middle of 2026.
This is happening.
A mountain of cash + clear positions needing strengthened + last day of window = taken to the cleaners
They can’t be this stupid. No one is. It’s an attempt to drive BR out.
Sort of thinking new management team next year….
Kieran Tierney
Shaun Maloney
John Kennedy
Eratic
Still not sure I trust the board to pull that off……
Drive Rodgers out?? He’s leaving in May and will stay unless fired. Are they hoping he just walks??
Even if he does, that leaves the next manager with the same issue. The Board are not daft – they have shafted the manager, the fans, the captain, the players and our reputation as a well run football club. Who’d sign for this shower!
Clunks
Board will be gone by then 🫣🤔🤣
Matt O’Riley goes on loan to Marseille.
Sometimes players just don’t fit a system.
Not a chance will they abandon ship
Nicholson will get punted and they wil bring in a new patsy/puppet
That show will go on
Though someone mention desmond interfering in a way that is not legal for a non exec
That would be interesting if it can get proven….
Why didn’t we make a late bid for the Hibs striker, Kieren Bowie.
Dolberg to Ajax for !0 million Euros, just saying like. :0(
oops 10 million
Charlie Mulgrew’s golf channels latest episode
https://youtu.be/b5PheJj0XPA?si=oXDrCgDdVn5o-HRz
He had Scott Brown on in the last episode
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0W6831tWHz0
Timbhoy163 on 2nd September 2025 9:11 pm
Why didn’t we make a late bid for the Hibs striker, Kieren Bowie.
*how do you know we didnae
I think Bamford would score plenty for us….if he could stay fit…
stevieo62 on 2nd September 2025 9:15 pm
Dolberg to Ajax for !0 million Euros, just saying like. :0(
*which is where he wanted tae go as it seems they were the best days of his fitba life
Why didn’t we make a late bid for the Hibs striker, Kieren Bowie.
—
or an early bid
Bamford would do a Sutton type job for us if he can stay fit. Doesn’t seem as if our board are even tracking him. They should be doing everything to get a #9 in / if they don’t , that confirms what we suspect about his board.
I’ve never felt so let down and feel sorry for the captain who came out and pleaded on behalf of the players. The basically gave him the middle finger !!
Whoever it is, we go 75 mins to get him registered for the Europa
Pretty sure wages will be an insurmountable hurdle for the Nigerian and English blokes we are enquiring about.
HH
Mistertaximan
Too much sense in that post.