Trending
Celtic News Now
Celtic Quick News on News Now
Celtic Quick News
You are at:»»Summer 23 Transfer Window assessment

Summer 23 Transfer Window assessment

201
By on CQN BLOG & Comments

In a busy transfer window, Celtic signed nine new players and sold four from the first team squad.  Central defence saw two planned arrivals: Maik Nawrocki (22) and Gustaf Lagerbielke (23), and the departure of Carl Starfelt (28).  Starfelt’s two-year partnership with Cameron Carter-Vickers was remarkably successful.  They only once experience defeat in a domestic game when paired together and that was after extra-time.

There are great hopes for Nawrocki and Lagerbielke but injuries to the former, as well as Carter-Vickers, saw emergency loanee Nat Phillips (26) arrive from Liverpool.  Nat and Gustav will be at the heart of the defence when we open for Champions League duty next week, barring further drama!

The wings saw Jota (24) leave for Arabia for an eye-watering £25m, pushing through the ceiling established by Kieran Tierney.  Sead Haksabanovic (24) went on load to Stoke.  One was always first choice; one was always a late throw of the dice.  Some of Jota’s goals were of a standard we have not seen at Celtic in many years, he scored in big games too and is a player you will talk about for decades.

Three wingers came in.  Hyun-jun Yang (21) arrived from Korea and has made the biggest impact so far, which is remarkable for one so young and so far from home.  It is clear he enjoys taking-on a defender and is someone who will make things happen.

Australian Marco Tilio (21) came in early in the window, but injury means he has still to make his debut.  Like Yang, he mostly plays on the right.  On the left, Ecuadorian Luis Palma (23) came in late August, too soon to be involved at the weekend, but he is fit and ready for action.  The fee paid for Luis was a just a shade below the €5m top figure we paid this window for Nawrocki.  An indication, perhaps, that he is most likely to fill the Jota shaped hole.

Central mid saw the retirement of Aaron Mooy (32).  He was with us for only a season, during which he was injured for a lengthy period and benched for many games, he nonetheless left an important gap in the squad.

In came Norwegian Odin Thiago Holm (20), the youngest of the signings.   At this age, Odin’s best position is still under review.  I expect to see him tried in the box-to-box role as well as in a more advanced position, if not eventually moving back, as his captain did.

So far, the most apt observation I have for Odin is ‘attitude’.  He is here to make an impact and wasted no time at Ibrox on Sunday.  Moments after he arrived, he carried the ball 15 yards before getting a shot on target.  The early signs are encouraging.

Can we do another ‘Jota’ on Benfica?  Paulo Bernardo (21) came in on a loan-with-option-to-buy deal.  Celtic were very keen to get this one over the line. Like Jota two years ago, the club sees a high upper potential here.

The one player who looks like a punt in the dark is Hyeok-kyu Kwon (22).  The defensive mid joins after making an impact in the Korean second tier.  Callum McGregor is perhaps the fittest player we have ever had at Celtic.  Kwon may have a frustrating wait, alongside Tomoki Iwata, for gametime.

We are familiar seeing Celtic sub out both wingers during the game, with Maeda, Palma, Abada, Yang, Tilio and Forrest, this will continue.  It is more common to swap out only one central mid.  With Hatate, O’Riley, Turnbull, Holm, Bernado all available to fill the two slots in front of Callum McGregor, this is about to change.

Coaches are still getting their heads around how best to use their five substitute options.  Throwing on two fresh wingers after an hour and a change of striker was the first iteration of change.  Expect experimentation in the middle of the park this season.

By any measure, the success of this transfer window has yet to be determined – it is truly insane to suggest otherwise (apologies to the many who left a self-identifier to this effect).  I hear very, very, good things about Nawrocki.  Holm, Bernardo, Tilio, Yang, Palma and Lagerbielke were all top targets, which is preferable to sliding down the list in the final days.

We took in around £30m and spent an estimated £19m on transfer fees.  Wage packets for the arrivals will be heavier than the leavers took home.  This is your annual reminder that wages and transfer spend both come out of income, feel free to howl disagreement in the direction of the moon.

If we wanted to just compete with Newco, like them, we would have signed players in their mid-20s, less risky but with less potential.  If, however, we want to make significant leaps forward in Europe, we need to follow another route.

Find, sign and develop players with high upper potential.  Get them in the team, improve them and if you get it right, you have a chance.  This is the only game in town for Celtic, we are wasting opportunity doing anything else.

It is clear what Celtic tried to achieve in this window.  We have established a recruitment model that brought players from across the globe.  We offer first-team domestic and Champions League football to players in their early 20s.  Our pitch is that they get to earn well, win trophies and have a platform to hopefully build a great career.

There will be Kilmarnock-shaped bumps along the way.  We need to be able to cope with them without self-indulgent flagellation.  Football fans have been coping with defeats since the game began, don’t lose sight of this among all our silverware, it’s not a good look.

Neither is the invective expressed because we didn’t strengthen every position.  This never happens – anywhere!  One more thought.  This is an easy article to write after Sunday, when pennies dropped across the country.  The window would have been no less valid had the Roofe ‘goal’ been permitted and the result gone the other way.

Watch across the city as fans tear their club apart.  Football is a more difficult business than any of the experts who have achieved nothing in the game believe.  If you think spending money on a player is an absolutely obvious thing for Celtic to do, and you know we have the money, but that deal does not happen, it is not because you are wise, and Celtic are led by fools.  It might just be that you are missing insight (I’m being very polite here).

Click Here for Comments >
Share.

About Author

201 Comments
  1. Pages:
  3. 1
  4. 2
  5. 3
  6. 4
  7. 5
  8. 6

  1. ziggydoc1 on

    Great news about Michel Frame. Saw him a few times last year and he looked an excellent prospect.

     

    Brilliant result for the girls today. Just watched STV news, who showed the goals from the (great) Glasgow City result and chat with a player. Not a mention about our game today. 🤔

  2. Stephbhoy67 on

    Signing young players to develop is something I don’t mind and i get the fact we need to do it. When they develop we restart and go again. No problem with the plan.

     

     

    But when your out buying high potential players remember to go get the one’s needed most. A good quality young leftback and gk ought to be prioritised this window.

     

     

    I hope its and areas being looked at for jan/ july 2024

     

     

    HH

     

     

     

    HH

  3. An Dún on

    setting free the bears for Res. 12 & Oscar Knox

     

     

    If people what to call me out on what they perceive to be my negativity then that’s fine.

     

     

    As for expecting credibility, I don’t know what you mean by this. Who seeks credibility on here and who would bestow it ?

     

     

    It’s fundamentally guys talking about something that’s important to them, Celtic.

     

     

    Ultimately its a football blog, it’s a past time. A bit of fun.

  5. Coneybhoy on

    Can’t wait for the Scotland game on Thurs. We only have McGregor in there but i would posit that his contribution is up there with the Marstro on caps, goals and leadership; possibly better

     

     

    Better than Souness, Strachan or Masson

  7. jackiemac on

    Did the Wangers’ tifo strike anybody else as being strange given that it was about sons and not about sons and daughters?

  10. An Dún on

    Coneybhoy on 6th September 2023 6:30 pm

     

     

    You can be sure that the next time our host pens a blog criticising the SNP, I’ll be along shortly after to tell him he’s never held elected office, never headed a government department and that he therefore should defer to the politicians :)

  12. Coneybhoy on

    Jackiemac

     

     

    I think the sevco are going very right wing on the youth side

     

     

    Seems a reaction to our left wing guys

     

     

    Makes no sense in Scotland but is an easy retort I suppose

     

     

    The Israeli flag is the strangest; they don’t like the religion but they like the anti- Palestine aspect due to some Celtic fans supporting it

  13. An Tearmann on

    AN DUN

     

    keep posting but dont be irked if someone comes back at you.

     

     

    CONEYBHOY

     

     

    Skwerr go!Drovers next time your over :-)))

     

     

    Wouldnt say assumed intelligence,goodwill in terms of longevity,knowhow,knowledge would be a better word in a business context.

     

     

    ‘Running a football club is easy’- mmm how far do we have to look for an example of a bad one?

     

    Also one mistake can end you at that(board)level ordinarily,football is scrutinized thoroughly,

     

     

    ‘Difficult pushing to next level’- there is a level above champs league? Or you meaning the early century fantasy chat of moving to England

     

     

    ‘Any CEO at Celtic can claim trophies, as can terrible managers’

     

    -that i would disagree with Coneybhoy,Peter Lawell did not get 10,neither did Neil Francis but we got our 2nd 9iar,Ronny got punted with defeat by a new club playing its part,could be argued our club failed to step on 2012-15,imo we paused,but it is difficult at exec level,the main thing is future generations do not experience a 1994 ever again.

     

    HH

     

    GetyirglovesCsc

  16. An Tearmann on

    BRRB

     

     

    Ron Bacardi

     

     

    If you are lurking I hope you are well B.👍

     

     

    Seconded :-)

     

     

    HH

  19. Ron Bacardi on

    BRRB and AT

     

     

    Many thanks for the well wishes, much appreciated.

     

     

    I am as well as can be, still having pain which limits my mobility at the moment but the doctors are not giving up and I start a course of chemo next week which will take me into February next year.

     

     

    I aim/hope to be able to travel and get to the Shipbank before the end of the year.

  22. vinniethedog on

    Looks like a Scottish journalist has joined the chit chat and is fishing!!….wouldn’t let it cloud my judgement…but think he’ll be a

  24. bigrailroadblues on

    Ron Bacardi

     

    Be great to see you again with the rest of the Shipwrecks. You are the Penrith legend B. 👍

  26. An Dún on

    Cloud9 on 6th September 2023 5:54pm

     

     

    I don’t think that’s why we’re keeping a healthy cash balance.

     

     

    There are compensation guidelines for Courts and in the event we lost the class action, pay outs would not in any way place the Club in financial difficulties. The damage would be reputational not fiscal.

  29. An Tearmann on

    All the best Ron,

     

    keep poppin in and i hope the bhoys gave you a boost last Sunday,take care

     

     

    HH

  30. Chairbhoy on

    BACK TO BASICS – GLASS HALF FULL @ 3:10 PM,

     

     

    There was talk of a “really good midfielder” but it didn’t happen and I recall feeling disappointed it didn’t.

     

     

    Think you could mean Wales International Joe Allen who BR had worked with at Swansea and Liverpool

     

     

    We were trying to sign him but didn’t manage to do so before Euro 2016

     

     

    Joe and the Welsh lads had a great games and his price rocketed out of our range

     

     

    Stoke City signed him for 13 mn….

     

     

    Hail Hail

  31. fanadpatriot on

    Ron

     

    Don’t think I have responded to your comments before ,but I pray that your ongoing treatment will be successful HH

  37. Tontine Tim on

    When Paul set up this list it was assumed that any and every one could come on here no matter race colour or creed as long as they obeyed the very stringent rules, there was no way he wanted tae replicate dingbats fascist fascist site where if anyone contradicts what he says they get booted off.

     

     

    So, through time we have had bluenoses, Ross County fans and I believe for a while a Hibbee and nothin untoward was said, and that’s what made it a far superior site than any other Celtic one and I have been on more than a few.

     

     

    Now even though those qualie failure huns who come oh are so easy tae spot I no longer debate with them as the are really tiresome and yes, they are back again as they have no life by the looks of it, but as soon as any of them even hints at crossin the line with regard tae child abuse then they should be chased as that is lower than a serpents belly!

  38. Burnley78 on

    Bada Bing

     

     

    Ref Kyogo and CCV leaving and needing replaced.

     

     

    Before I was critical of those making any signings I would ensure I had a few alternative ideas I would think were better…..otherwise any critique from me would be vacuous. Especially if those players signed have not even been given the chance to show their capability.

  42. Back to Basics - Glass Half Full on

    My top six players last season were probably

     

     

    1. CCV

     

    2. Kyogo

     

    3. Jota

     

    4. Calum

     

    5. Reo

     

    6. AJ

     

     

    #3 is gone

     

    #1 and #5 are injured

     

    #6 just coming back from injury

     

     

    So only 33% of my last season’s top six have been regularly contributing on the field so far.

     

     

    When that goes up to 83% and the replacements for Jota get going?

     

     

    I hope to see a better team.

     

     

    It’s a journey.

  1. Pages:
  3. 1
  4. 2
  5. 3
  6. 4
  7. 5
  8. 6