Celtic’s transfer recruitment has been a major talking point after the January transfer window slammed shut.
There was a section of the Celtic fans disappointed that the club didn’t boost or strengthen the squad as they should have done.
This is Brendan Rodgers’ second spell in charge and it’s fair to say that he has dealt with the whole situation in the best way possible.
In his first spell, the Celtic boss might have had a few choice words to say when things didn’t go his way, but the waters are a lot calmer now.
This was also Rodgers’ fourth transfer window of his second spell and, despite the frustration of the latest window, Michael Stewart thinks things are starting to change in a dramatic fashion.
Jeffrey Schlupp was the deadline day arrival and he has come in to cover at left-back before Kieran Tierney re-joins Celtic in the summer.
Stewart used the Arsenal man as an example of why things have changed on the recruitment side at Parkhead.
Celtic’s transfer recruitment has gone from ‘night and day’
Rodgers had a lot to prove when he returned, not to the powers that be, but to the fans because of how he left the club for Leicester City in 2019.
Months after his first summer transfer window of 2023, there were chants of ‘sack the board’ coming from the Celtic fans during the defeat against Hearts.
That was an example of how the supporters weren’t happy with the transfer business and Stewart touched upon some of the players who came in, at the time, as he told Premier Sports.
He used them as examples, compared to the deals being concluded now, as to how the transfer business has gone from ‘night to day’.
“The contrast to 18 months ago, when you look at the players that were brought in and you look at what Celtic are doing now,” said Stewart. “It’s night and day. I mean, it really is night and day.
“That first window was quite alarming when you look back at it now. You have Nawrocki. Lagerbielke. Thiago Holm. These guys, none of them really making an impact. None. There are more as well that are going by the wayside that I can’t even remember.
“There is Luis Palma. He clearly isn’t a bad player. But he just didn’t fit at Celtic. He is another, who in that window, that didn’t work. You look at it now. Tierney is to come in the summer as well. That is an incredibly good squad Celtic have put together. If they can ultimately solve the centre-forward, not issue, but reinforcement, then you look at the overall strength of the squad and you say ‘they are capable if they are to get a good draw in the Champions League (next season) to compete against some top teams’.”
Celtic’s transfer signings in Brendan Rodgers’ first summer back
There are some names here that simply haven’t worked out, and to put it as brutally as possible, they have flopped in the colours of Celtic.
Maik Nawrocki is an example, he has fallen so far back that even a youngster is being picked ahead of him in the Champions League, as Rodgers proved when he brought Dane Murray on from the bench against Aston Villa.
Then there is someone like Luis Palma, who recently departed on loan, after struggling to get going in the colours of Celtic and probably has no future at the club now.
Not even mentioning Gustaf Lagerbielke, who played in that first Glasgow derby when Rodgers returned, but hasn’t seen since and is now out on loan.
Celtic’s signings in Rodgers’ first summer back:
- Odin Thiago Holm – Valarenga – £2.6m
- Marco Tilio – Melbourne City – £1.5m
- Yang Hyun-jun – Gangwon FC – £2.1m
- Kwon Hyeok-kyu – Busan IPark – £1m
- Maik Nawrocki – Legia Warsaw – £4.3m
- Gustaf Lagerbielke – IF Elfsborg – £3m
- Luis Palma – Aris – £3.5m
- Nat Phillips – Liverpool – loan
- Paulo Bernardo – Benfica – loan
- Liam Bonetig – Western Sydney Wanderers – undisclosed
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