Celtic look to have won the race against time after Camilo Duran left Qarabag’s training camp to undergo his medical in Glasgow.
Duran is travelling to Scotland for a medical after a three-year contract was agreed, with the Colombian now on the verge of becoming Celtic’s first signing of the summer.
The timing could prove crucial because Qarabag’s Champions League qualifier would have created a major UEFA registration problem had Duran featured before completing his move.
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Why Celtic needed to move before Qarabag’s qualifier
Qarabag play in the Champions League first round qualifiers this week.
UEFA’s rules state that any player that takes the field in any of the first three rounds of qualifiers is ineligible to play for a different club in the final qualifying round.
Had Duran remained with Qarabag for the qualifier, there would always have been a strong chance he would feature. Given his importance to the Azerbaijani champions after scoring five goals in last season’s league phase, leaving him out completely would have been difficult to justify.
However, if Celtic make the group phase, Duran would become eligible to wear the green and white Hoops.
Celtic have avoided creating an unnecessary problem
Celtic know that the Champions League qualifiers start earlier in the summer. They would also have known that Duran’s Qarabag would have been playing weeks earlier in the knockout rounds.
The Parkhead club are also more than familiar with UEFA’s registration rules.
If Duran is the striker Celtic believe can help fire them into the Champions League group stage, getting him out of Qarabag before that qualifier was always the priority.
Martin O’Neill has already voiced that Celtic need strengthening this summer on more than one occasion.
Missing out on the Champions League qualifier will not kill the Duran deal, but what it does do is weaken Celtic’s chances of making the lucrative group stage.
Assuming the transfer is completed before Qarabag’s qualifier, Celtic look to have avoided a situation that could have weakened Martin O’Neill’s options for the club’s biggest matches of the summer.
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