Celtic critics should heed Charlie Mulgrew’s verdict on transfers after Camilo Duran’s arrival

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Celtic’s preparations for the new Premiership season are well underway.

The 2026 summer transfer window has been open for a month, and sections of the Celtic fanbase are starting to get a little tetchy.

Camilo Duran has arrived, and scored in his first appearance for the club against Sporting on Tuesday in a pre-season friendly, while Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has also returned.

Charlie Mulgrew was recently in the camp of getting ‘a wee bit worried’ over the lack of arrivals, but he is now starting to change his mind.

The former centre-back is starting to see the light, as critics should take note and trust the process at hand, which now includes Martin O’Neill.

Yes, certain individuals in the boardroom still need to leave, but it’s about bringing in quality, rather than quantity, and if it takes time, then so be it.

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Charlie Mulgrew sees the positive amid transfer gloom

“In terms of new arrivals, it was get­ting a wee bit wor­ry­ing,” Mulgrew told The Sunday Post. “Oxlade-Cham­ber­lain has re-signed, and his exper­i­ence will be invalu­able over the piece because nobody was in for the start of pre-sea­son last month.

“He has a hun­ger to do well for Celtic and wants to be involved in as many games as he can.

“But things are def­in­itely now mov­ing in the right dir­ec­tion, and it’s been good to see a bit of move­ment for lads on the way in.

“Cam­ilo Duran has signed, and the trans­fer fee is a chunky one – the home­work on the player has clearly been done, and he arrives with a ped­i­gree of scor­ing goals in the Cham­pi­ons League.

“I like the look of him and have been impressed with what he’s had to say. I’ve a feel­ing he can be a star at the top end of the pitch.

“Iheanacho has also been lined up to return, and he is a per­fect fit for Celtic. He was ter­rific in the last two months of the sea­son.

“The same applies to Sarac­chi. He was bril­liant in the final league game of the sea­son against Heart. He had a desire to make an impact and drove the team on in that final 20 minutes to make things hap­pen.

“He more than played his part in the title suc­cess. If these deals can get over the line and also a couple of new faces in this week, it will give every­one a huge lift.”

What does this do for the Celtic dressing room?

Celtic have concluded their Portugal trip, after starting their pre-season journey in Ireland and recording a 1-1 draw against Shelbourne.

Now, the Hoops will return home, starting this Saturday with a clash against Championship side Middlesbrough, before taking on the might of AC Milan.

If the new signings continue to come in, including the possible return of Kelechi Iheanacho, then Mulgrew explained that it will lift the mood in training.

“The bet­ter the qual­ity, the higher the stand­ard every day in train­ing. Cal­lum McGregor will want to show every new sign­ing what he brings to the team. It all drives things on and ups the stand­ards. 

“So, this could be an inter­est­ing week. The Celtic sup­port­ers will want more new play­ers ahead of the game at home to Middles­brough on Sat­urday.”