CELTIC MUNTEANU MOVE BACK ON?
- BY LIAM CARRIGAN
- Aug 17
- 3 min read
It seems that a player Celtic reportedly made a bid on just a matter of weeks ago will soon leave his club. But is he coming to Celtic?
Louis Munteanu, the Romanian international striker, who hit 25 goals for CFR Cluj in the Romanian League last season has reportedly “downed tools” over a pay dispute with his club.
Cluj manager, the former Chelsea star Dan Petrescu, tried to downplay Munteanu’s absence from Cluj’s latest match as being “due to an undisclosed injury”.
The Romanian press however, aren’t buying it. Sources in the Eastern European nation say that Munteanu has refused to play over a pay dispute and wants a transfer.
Will Celtic Munteanu Interest Reignite? Is it Even a Good Idea?
I have to be honest and say that this story, if true, leaves me in two minds about the player.
He is a goal scorer and a player of undeniable quality. Also, at just 23 years old, he will, almost certainly become even more valuable if he has a couple of good seasons with a high profile club like Celtic. Munteanu will know this too.
Whilst we undeniably need players like Munteanu, Celtic also have to ask if its worth all the associated drama.
A player who has allegedly “downed tools” at his current club to try and force a transfer through could easily do the same with Celtic, or whoever his next club may be.
That is the calculated risk Celtic would be taking if they moved ahead with another bid for Louis Munteanu. Celtic need strikers, but we need players who are 100% committed. I would question the character of a player who tries to engineer a transfer in this way.
Compare Munteanu’s current, alleged conduct, to that of Kyogo Furuhashi at this time last year.
Now, in hindsight, we know that Kyogo wanted to leave Celtic last summer. However, the move didn’t happen. But the player didn’t make a scene, he bided his time and he got his move in January.
On a side note, I can’t be the only Celtic fan who was absolutely delighted to see the wee man smiling again as he got his first goal for Birmingham the other night. I wish him and Tomoki Iwata all the best for the coming campaign.
Anyway, back on topic. The Louis Munteanu report comes courtesy of IAM Sport, a Romanian Sports Channel, roughly equivalent to Sky Sports in the UK. Not 100% reliable, but not “Football Insider” levels of ridiculousness either. So, I’m leaning towards thinking this may be true.
The specificity of the numbers in the report makes it difficult to refute. Munteanu is reportedly unhappy over a 200,000 Euro signing on fee he was promised by Cluj at the time of his signing for them in summer 2024.
However, As of this week, that fee, allegedly remains unpaid. Cluj have not directly commented on the report, aside from Petrescu’s assertion that Munteanu’s absence from their last game wasn’t down to injury.
One would think that if such an allegation of unprofessionalism was untrue, that the club would vehemently deny it, and perhaps even threaten punitive action against those making the allegation. Instead, we’ve only had silence, which will surely only serve to further unsettle a player who, even before this latest drama kicked off was heavily hinting at wanting a transfer.
No official word yet from Celtic on any of this, naturally. But as we know, that doesn’t mean discussions aren’t happening behind the scenes.
Munteanu may end up being one of those hasty last minute signings we bring in at the end of the month, if we make it past Kairat in the Champions League qualifiers.
