Celtic's 2025/26 Summer transfer window: needed and wanted!

You wouldn't take them on loan? Look at Eddy, he'd done little prior to joining us and he was immense.

Sam Dalby has scored 37 in 199, considering he spent years in the non leagues that is absolutely dog *.

 

Is it safe to assume that those of us absolutely bricking it that Rodgers is charge of recruitment can rest easy a little, as this self appointed "football doctor" was brought in to do precisely that?

If we assume thats true then its a glass half full situation for me.

On paper his two Jan. signings were very decent.

Jota and Schlupp.

Jota unfortunately injured. And Schlupp posted missing after being extremely impressive early on. Hence the glass half full, or empty depending on your outlook.

However, the club itself spoke about how Tisdale "assisted" with targets in the summer; something which people might find a little concerning.

Out of the 9 signings we've made last season only 2, perhaps 3, couldn't be placed in the "disappointing" bracket.

I say disappointing as i think theres still hope for some of them.

Arne Engels, midfielder (Augsburg); early promise, but hasnt kicked on. Doesnt seem to be developing a rate fans would like to see. FAIL

Kasper Schmeichel, goalkeeper (Anderlecht); Early promise, but age is catching up with him Fans have turned. FAIL

Luke McCowan, midfielder (Dundee,); successful. We weren't expecting a world beater, and hes done a job. PASS

Viljami Sinisalo, goalkeeper (Aston Villa); has done brilliantly when called upon, especially given his youth. PASS

Paulo Bernardo, midfielder (Benfica); form taken a swan dive off a cliff. FAIL (for last season)

Adam Idah, forward (Norwich City,); Norwich pulled our pants down, weve been shafted on the fee. Hes a 4m pound striker. Nowhere near value for money. (from a financial perspective. I don't buy this "hes repaid his fee pish, he cost us 10m ffs and looks like an SPL player.) FAIL

Auston Trusty, defender (Sheffield United); early promise, looks lost now, but still a better option than Scales imo. FAIL

Jota, winger (Rennes); Horrible luck to get injured. But we know he'll be back. PASS

Jeffrey Schlupp (Crystal Palace); looked a baller. Then looked a kitten in a matter of weeks. Totally tools down. FAIL.

No club gets a 100% pass rate with transfers. But on the face of it; ooft.

We spent 36.5 million pounds last year, not including loan and signing on fees. Its very arguable that at least 23.5m of that has been pished into the wind.

We simply CANNOT afford waste that type of money again this year. If the majority of this summers signings arent a success, Desmond will snap the clubs purse closed and throw it in the Clyde.
Or worse, take transfer control away from Rodgers (again ffs) and rely on a non existent scouting department in dire need of modernisation to do our recruiting.

My feelings about Rodgers are well documented, he couldnt spot a player to save his life. But the alternative is worse imo.

Rodgers and Tisdale simply CANNOT * THIS WINDOW UP.
Not in any way. We cant have positions left short, and we cant have signings made that take 2 seasons to get going.

Theres far too much riding on it.

 

Article in the mail that cavanaugh at huns and bloom at hearts will mean EXTRA PRESSURE on Rodgers, if we want the board to take notice and back Rodgers then articles in the mail, lawwells fav 'paper' should do it.

 

Why do you think McGowan is a pass I'll never know. He's clearly a level below and not good enough.

 

Disagree with some of the list, to be honest.

Arne Engels is not a fail for me. The price we paid for him is clearly playing on peoples minds but there is clearly enough in his game to work with during a full pre-season. Look at what Rodgers done with Kuhn during a pre-season. * looked woeful after we first signed him then looked like prime Robben during the American Tour. 10 goals and 13 assists in his first year, at 21 years old? He's played the same amount of senior first team games this season than the whole of his career up to signing with us. He's a pass for me. Not a clear pass. But a pass.

McCowan is a pass for me, given what he was brought in for. He was clearly brought in to play back up in the midfield and he's played that role when called upon. Is he Hatate? No, of course not but he's done well enough to be classed as a pass.

Kasper Schmeichel is clearly a pass. He made one huge mistake in the cup final that ended up costing us the trophy but come on, has he made any other clear mistakes all season? Clearly a pass.

Viljami Sinisalo is a pass. Brought in to learn off Kasper and he's clearly showing ridiculous levels of talent. Still young, still learning, still developing but the sky is the limit for the boy. Really like him and he's a clear pass. In my opinion, he should be playing more games next season.

Paulo Bernardo is a fail for me. I didn't like him during his first season and I still don't know what he's good at now. He's just a bit of a nothing footballer. I understand why we progressed with the deal at half the original agreed fee and I understand that he did have a decent wee patch after New Year during his first spell but yeah, he's a fail for me.

Austin Trusty is another fail. Has obviously shown flashes of being a really decent defender, especially in Europe but I don't think he's shown enough to be a pass, especially at the sort of price we paid for him. At £6m, I wanted to see more. Had a brilliant performance over in Italy against Atalanta but just hasn't shown enough for me. Would be willing to move him on in the summer.

Adam Idah. Difficult one. 20 goals and a couple of assists this season, which isn't horrendous. Clearly played back up for the majority of the season to Kyogo and Maeda. Since Jota got injured, he hasn't shown enough in games to warrant a starting place and at £9m, he should be laying down a bigger marker. However, he was brought in at the end of July, when we were beginning to play games and again, had no real preseason under Rodgers. So, want to keep him until we see if he can push on. This season, it probably has to be classed as a fail but if I think the price blinds people. Still think he has a lot to his game that we can work with to really rough out the edges. There's no reason why he can't be a success here but for now, he goes in the failed category for me.

Jota. Will be a pass for me. We know what we are getting and we know what he can do. Anywhere near the sort of form that got him his move to Saudi and we will be laughing but Pass for me. Great signing.

Jeffrey Schlupp. Clearly brought in to add competition to left back while we wait on the signing of Tierney. Has played really well and really * but his phenomenal performance over in Germany against Bayern Munich pushes me to think he's a pass, given he was brought in to add physicality. Pass.

Pass- Engels, McCowan, Schmeichel, Sinisalo, Jota Schlupp.
Fail- Trusty, Bernardo, Idah,

 

He was actually only 20 years old when he signed his 5 year deal

 

Back to your original point, you can't write someone off in their first year. Loads of things need to be contextualised and I think you can do that with some players. At the same time, you do need to make a decision on the players because they obviously go hand in hand with success.

You want Celtic to sign like 10 players this window, which I think is completely unrealistic without selling or moving on some of the players we have been discussing above.

 

Again, if the club chooses to move them on and some fans would like to see them being moved on, does that not mean they're a failed transfer? I want us to move on Trusty in the summer. I think it's been a failed transfer because I don't think he's good enough to be a first choice centre back.

I really don't think there's anything weird about it. Most of us said that Lagerbielke was a failed transfer months after we signed him because we could all see he was clearly not the sort of defender we should have targeted. He's not a bad footballer or a bad defender, he just doesn't suit our style of play.

 

None of the players we signed last summer is a fail, there's a few where the jury might still be out (Idah, Trusty) but to label them a failure is harsh. Bernardo does border there tbh but he's still young.

Engels has had Atalanta sniffng around him since January. That's not a fail, that's a player that's clearly made enough progress to be noticed by a team that is run exceptionally well.

 

You can definitely rightly "fail" a player before they leave , there are numerous examples of that here over the years.
I do agree though with the current crop in discussion , they may still all turn it around if, as is likely , they are still in the picture and getting game time next year. We will see what the summer brings in but outside of Engels, I would be very surprised if any of them leave here labelled as successful signings.
I Think Idah, Trusty and Bernardo will be sold at a loss or just not getting game time in 18 months.

 

I don't think you can judge them fully because I think that any player can get a lucky break and end up looking better than they are. There can be multiple different reasons for that. Staying on Lagerbielke, if Celtic decided to drop their high line right back and started playing more like Rangers, for example, then he would probably look very good for us. There are repurcussions to that though, meaning we would be completely changing our style of play, a manager would have to come in and play far more defensively... so I don't think it really matters whether they are here or not. You can still tell a player is a good transfer and most of it has to be placed into context.

I feel as if you're focussing more on Engels than anyone and I think Engels has done well this season, especially when you contextualise it, like I said. 20 years old, new country, new team mates, new environment, new style of play, completely different sort of opposition most of the time, no pre-season... he's shown far more to work with than what I think most on here give him credit for. I actually think he's done well this season all things considered and his fee is what clouds peoples minds.

I have a different opinion on Trusty. He's older, he's not really going to develop much. He's played in similar style of leagues, or British based football, having played in the championship and low end EPL. A pre-season might be all he needs to get going but I don't personally see it. It's just an opinion. We can only be wrong.

 

Clearly a board apologist

I don't think I classed any as complete failures. In fact, I said on Idahs that I beleive he needs a pre-season under Rodgers and there is plenty to work with. I said the same on Engels. I'm just not a fan of Trusty but I accept he's performed very well in Europe at times. The big question for me is have they justified their moves and I'm not sure Idah and Trusty have, this season. I don't think we should sell Idah or Engels. I would be happy to move on Bernardo and Trusty, though.

 

That list is mental.

Can’t call any signing a fail after one year.

Engels was very good for large parts of the season, winning YPOTY. Idah scored 20 goals. Schmeichel was excellent.

The issue is the fees giving unrealistic expectations, but we’ve not paid the fees for 1 season.

 

It’s not mental it’s classic from him


He’ll be on full rant mode from now until the end of the window