Celtic set for ‘busy summer of recruitment’ regardless of Champions League qualification – Pete O’Rourke
Celtic need to qualify for the Champions League this season to afford a summer window that will please their fans but a “busy summer of recruitment” is certain, sources have told Football Insider.
The Hoops have endured a tumultuous season that could still have a fairytale ending if Martin O’Neill can guide the club to another Premiership title.
There is work to do for that to happen, however, with Celtic currently sitting third in the league behind Hearts and Rangers ahead of the final seven games of the campaign.
As I revealed on the latest edition of Football Insider’s Transfer Insider podcast, qualifying for the Champions League will be imperative to their summer window, with another poor round of transfers set to ramp up the pressure on the Parkhead board.
Celtic’s transfer plans will be dictated by which European competition they are playing in, and so they need to leapfrog either of the top two to make it into the UCL for next term.
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VISIT THE CELTIC TRANSFER HUBCeltic’s summer plans hinge on Champions League qualification
This season could be Celtic’s final chance to finish second and qualify for UEFA’s premier club competition, with Scottish teams’ poor European performances seeing their coefficient ranking take a hit.
Many fans have fumed at the lack of expenditure on new additions over the last two windows, but they will not be able to fork out much more in the summer if they fail to make the Champions League this season.
| Player (bought from) | Fee |
| Sebastian Tounekti (Hammarby) | £5.2million |
| Michel-Ange Balikwisha (Royal Antwerp) | £4.5million |
| Shin Yamada (Kawasaki Frontale) | £1.5million |
| Benjamin Nygren (Nordsjaelland) | £1.7million |
| Hayato Inamura (Albirex Niigata) | £250,000 |
Speaking on the Transfer Insider podcast, I explained: “There’s so much uncertainty at the club. We don’t know necessarily who the manager’s going to be.
“They need to bring in a new sporting director as well. There’s a lot of upheaval at Celtic, so it’s hard to know what their actual plans are for the summer.
“I think no matter where they finish this season, even if they were to go and win the title, there should be a busy summer of recruitment up at Celtic.
“The squad is unbalanced, it’s lacking quality, lacking depth. That has been proven in their performances this season.
“If they were to finish in the Champions League places, it would obviously boost their financial coffers to allow them to make more additions in the summer.
“If they were to miss out, it will definitely affect their transfer budget. There’s no getting away from that. We saw in January, all the signings they made were loans, so they weren’t willing to commit to anything permanently then.
“That was maybe due to the managerial situation, and the board not being sure of spending money on players if they weren’t going to qualify for the Champions League as well.”
Silas Andersen transfer hinges on UCL qualification for Celtic and Rangers
Celtic and Rangers are in the mix to sign several of the same players this summer, with Champions League qualification set to dictate what either club can do ahead of the other.
21-year-old midfielder Silas Andersen is one of those, as he impresses with BK Hacken in the Allsvenskan and Conference League.
Sources have exclusively told Football Insider that Andersen is on the radar of both Celtic and Rangers, but whoever finishes in the UCL places will have the upper hand when it comes to affording his £5m fee.
There is the possibility of both sides making up the top two this season, but Hearts are five points ahead of the Hoops and are in better form right now.
Target: Elijah Just (Motherwell)
Long-term: Carter-Vickers out
League Pos: 2nd (61 pts)
Status: Summer Talks Underway
Revenue: £143.6m (2025)