Celtic have put important transfer options at severe risk in recent weeks

By David Walton

June 2, 2021

I know, it’s all getting tiresome isn’t it? Waiting on Celtic to appoint a manager and a director of football has been torturous at best, but it’s also putting at risk some important transfer opportunities.

It’s clear Celtic can’t make any big decisions in the transfer window until a new man is in the door. At least when it comes to player incomings anyway. That’s the way it should be of course. It has to be down to the new manager as to whether he wants certain players at the football club. No problem there.

But the length of time it’s taking Celtic to sort out their appointments is starting to have a serious effect on our transfer options.

Let’s look at a couple of examples. Celtic need a replacement for Odsonne Edouard this summer. They have a great option available in Hatayspor’s Aaron Boupendza – Turkish football’s top scorer this season. Boupendza is quick, powerful, and has a wand of a left foot. His stunning breakthrough campaign in Turkish football this season has made him a real commodity.

The latest on him is that Atalanta have reportedly offered £6.9m for his services [Tuttomercatoweb]. As things stand, Celtic are in no position to compete with them. This is due to the fact that we don’t have a manger in place to confirm whether he should be a priority target.

The same goes for Hibernian left-back Josh Doig. The Watford Observer stated that Watford were in discussions with the Edinburgh side regarding a £4m move for the in-demand defender. Again, Celtic can’t just go out and splash that kind of cash on a player who may not suit the new manager’s style or be wanted by him.

Celtic in danger of missing out badly here; transfer work needs to start soon

Yes, Celtic are doing background work on players. That makes sense given it’ll at least give the new man some reports to read over and who may be of interest to us. But it’s nowhere near as effective as having a manager on board early to ensure you make the most of the window.

Most clubs start preparing for their summer recruitment months or weeks in advance. They identify the players they want to sign and start working on it. Celtic have dallied so long with the new managerial appointment that we haven’t had that luxury. It’s made even worse considering the rebuild we have on our hands.

What’s to stop the likes of in-demand Kevin Nisbet and Aaron Hickey from making moves in the next few weeks either? These are players who have been subject to offers in the past. The longer we wait, the less chance we have of following up in any interest that was there.

Hatayspor striker Aaron Boupendza (Photo by Burak Milli/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Sure, Euro 2020 will help to a degree. Many players may put decisions over their futures on the back-burner whilst they take part in international duty. Not everyone will, however, and Celtic have left themselves open to missing out on a host of potentially successful deals.

As rival clubs continue to restructure their squad ahead of next season, we’re still looking to complete step one. Only when that’s done will we start seeing some genuine progress on the transfer front.

Frustratingly, that still doesn’t seem to be on its way anytime soon.

In other news, Reported 2020 target Barry Douglas sounds like he’d be open to a potential Celtic offer.