Footage emerges overnight that will haunt Celtic, hours before Kelechi Iheanacho announcement

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Celtic have their much-needed striker through the door, well, sort of!

After the frustrating and anger-fuelling 2025 summer transfer window slammed shut for Celtic on Monday evening, the club felt it was apt to announce their new striker signing 24 hours later.

After months of waiting for a new proven goalscorer, remember that Kyogo Furuhashi left in January, Celtic crashed out of the Champions League, and Adam Idah joined Swansea City, for the board to act.

And even then, it wasn’t what the supporters wanted because Kelechi Iheanacho joined Celtic as a free agent, with the confirmation dropping in supporters’ inboxes just before midnight on Tuesday.

With due respect to Iheanacho, he wasn’t the guy the fans wanted; the striker fans craved was announced by Ajax just hours earlier on the same night.

• READ MORE: Celtic told Callum McGregor has done something he has ‘never’ done amid transfer drama

Ajax announce Kasper Dolberg as Celtic bring in Kelechi Iheanacho

By the time the Kasper Dolberg and Celtic rumours started emerging, the damage had already been done because Europe’s elite competition wasn’t booked in for the 2025/26 season.

But that didn’t mean that a player of Dolberg’s ilk wouldn’t have worked wonders and been a sensational signing for Scotland’s most successful club.

However, as per usual, those in the Celtic Park boardroom dithered and dallied to the point that it allowed Ajax to come swooping in and to secure his services right at the death.

To add insult to injury, around 90 minutes before Celtic would announce Iheanacho, the Dutch giants confirmed that Dolberg had returned to Amsterdam.

They released footage of some of his goals, which will be a haunting watch for those in green and white colours because it’s a case of, what could have been?!

Ajax’s technical director shares what could have been for Celtic

It’s going to be interesting to see how many goals Dolberg bags this season compared to Celtic’s forward players.

But what is Celtic’s loss will now be Ajax’s gain, and their technical director, Alex Kroes, highlighted his skill set, because it’s just what Rodgers needs.

“Kasper is back on familiar ground,” said Kroes. “He knows Ajax, the club knows him and his qualities.

“As far as we are concerned, he fits perfectly into our current squad as a striker and makes us stronger and more versatile in the different competitions in which we compete.

“We are delighted that he has once again chosen Ajax and look forward to his contribution in the coming seasons.”