OSMAND HAVING MEDICAL, NYGREN IN TALKS, IS CELTIC TRANSFER STRATEGY FINALLY CHANGING FOR THE BETTER?
- BY LIAM CARRIGAN
- Jun 13
- 3 min read
It’s been a surprisingly busy transfer window so far, by Celtic’s usual, minimal standards at this time of year.
Deals in the Works, Some Already Concluded, Celtic Transfer Moves Already an Improvement on Last Season
Welsh striker Callum Osmand is set to sign on next week, from Fulham, for a nominal fee. FC Nordsjaelland have granted Celtic permission to negotiate directly with Swedish international winger Benjamin Nygren and Kierney Tierney just arrived home on a 5 years deal.
There’s also Ross Doohan set to come in as a replacement for our departed 3rd choice keeper Scott Bain.
Not bad considering we’re not even half way through June yet!
Of course, the only deal 100% done so far is Kieran Tierney. We’ve known about his impending return since Christmas, so I guess maybe that doesn’t really count in some people’s eyes.
I still think it shows forward planning though. I’m not slow to criticize the Celtic Board when I think they’ve got it wrong, so I will give them credit here. Getting Tierney lined up and having him back in the building with plenty of time to prepare for next season is good work.
Even if the Osmand deal somehow falls through, or the Nygren deal goes nowhere, the fact that we are already deep into negotiations with both players shows a renewed vigor to the Celtic transfer strategy this season.
It’s not unusual to see Celtic linked with plenty of players at this time of year. However, I think it is unusual to see that we have actual proposed deals in the works so early on.
My friend and ACSOM Comrade Kevin Graham has been his usual, hyper-pessimistic self when discussing Celtic’s transfer strategy over the last couple of weeks.
He said on Monday that, as is usually the case, he expects we’ll leave it until August until we make any meaningful signings, and we’ll miss out on some players, and over-pay on others because of our dithering and failed attempts at haggling over price.
As much I tried to put a more positive spin on things when we spoke on this week’s Bulletin, I had to concede that recent evidence pointed to Kev’s take ultimately being much more accurate than mine.
I’m glad that now, just a few days later, I can see signs, not guarantees but positive signs, that Celtic might, finally be about to take a more proactive approach to transfers, in contrast to their usual reactive approach.
Of course, nothing may happen in the next few weeks, Kev could be proved right once again, and this article will have aged about as well as Rangers’ “World’s Most Successful Club” signage.
However, I see good signs. I see reasons to be positive. I think there’s more to this week’s activity than just the usual tabloid manufactured garbage.
The players we are being linked with, and the ones we are officially in negotiations with, are all realistic targets that will, in my opinion, improve the first team squad, don’t break our wage structure, and have massive potential sell-on value.
I see a more targeted, focused and cohesive strategy emerging. I hope this isn’t another false dawn. But like I said, I see reasons to be positive.
