Hogh joins and Balikwisha is sold: Celtic's dream summer transfer window

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Martin Macdonald | Writer

Content writer covering football, formula 1 and movies

Celtic are facing a summer of huge squad turnover as plenty of players are expected to depart Glasgow, and while they will also need to be replaced, drastic improvements are also needed.

The Hoops did indeed defend the Scottish Premiership this past season, but had to wait until the final day to dramatically emerge victorious against Hearts.

It was a tumultuous campaign for the club with major tension between the board and fans, while Martin O'Neill twice had to be called upon to steady the ship after Brendan Rodgers left early in the season and his replacement, Wilfried Nancy, proved a disaster.

O'Neill has now been confirmed as permanent manager and he'll likely be given a healthy transfer budget to bolster his squad.

Below, FootballTransfers runs through Celtic's dream summer transfer window, within their limits, of course.

SIGNINGS

Kasper Schmeichel had been dealing with a shoulder injury all season and eventually lost his place in the starting XI to Viljami Sinisalo after some lacklustre performances between the sticks. The Dane has already announced his retirement so Celtic will need to recruit, hopefully a new number one, with Mathew Ryan mentioned in the press following an impressive season at Levante.

The centre-back pairing of Auston Trusty and Liam Scales is probably good enough for the Scottish Premiership but if the club has aspirations of making an impact in Europe then some competition is at least needed in that area. Who knows what level Cameron Carter-Vickers will return at, so at least one centre-back will be signed, though one or both of Zinedin Smajlovic and Scott McKenna may be brought in.

Knowing Celtic, they'll go for the much cheaper option, which is Smajlovic, as McKenna will cost close to €13 million.

Celtic expect midfield departures as we'll discuss below, while the squad was short in central midfield in 2025/26. It seems inevitable that Elliot Just will leave Motherwell after a superb season in Scotland, with both Celtic and Rangers mentioned as possible destinations. But, he'll be keeping his options open until after a World Cup stint with New Zealand.

This one seems a long shot, but Celtic have been linked with German football hotshot midfielder Soufiane El-Faouzi. Brentford, Sunderland and Bologna are among a growing list of interested parties, but the Hoops could offer Champions League football (if they progress through the playoffs). He would reportedly cost in excess of €11m, which is just shy of the club's transfer record.

Celtic need a long-term successor to Callum McGregor and defensive midfielder Benjamin Tahirovic may be that player. He's already tried and failed to impress at big clubs like Roma and Ajax, but Celtic could provide the platform he needs to reach his potential.

It is in the final third that the club needs to improve the most as the team was heavily reliant on Daizen Maeda's goals to win the title after the split. Tomas Cvancara, Joel Mvuka and Junior Adamu were all brought in in January and all failed, while summer signings Sebastian Tounekti and Michel-Ange Balikwisha didn't add much at all, with the latter in particular proving a horrible acquisition.

Bodo/Glimt's Kasper Hogh has been a target for a while now and could cost upwards of €10m. His stock rose significantly thanks to his goals in the Champions League this past season, but the speculation isn't going away on this one.

Evan Ferguson, too, represents a dream signing for Celtic and it was mentioned as a possibility in January, though Roma ended up keeping him. His career is stagnating and Celtic could help him flourish, and there's always the Irish connection, too. He scored against the Hoops in the Europa League this season.

The club were reportedly stingy in negotiations to sign Jakob Breum from Go Ahead Eagles a year ago but will go back to the drawing board on that one with an improved offer.

Most recently, they have been linked with Rodez winger Tairyk Arconte.

SALES

The players Celtic will sell this summer fall into two categories: ones they don't want to go and ones they are desperate to go.

The one they definitely don't want to see leave is Maeda but there is an overall feeling among the fans that the time has come for him to move on. Yes, he was incredible after the split and ultimately won Celtic the league, but he was poor in the first half of the campaign and has expressed a desire to play in the Premier League.

The same could be said for Reo Hatate as it seems his tenure is up.

In those two aforementioned categories, there is one man who falls somewhere in the middle and that's Benjamin Nygren. An enigma of a man, he was voted Player of the Year and ended the season as the club's top scorer, but there are some who haven't warmed to him as he undoubtedly shirks other responsibilities in midfield to get in these positions to score goals.

Basically, if he stays, that's fine. If he goes, for the kind of money being mentioned, to Tottenham specifically, even better.

It seems Arne Engels may leave, but Celtic don't want that to happen unless it's for big money. They rejected a €28m big from Nottingham Forest for the player in January.

Stephen Welsh has already been confirmed as leaving on a free transfer, while Luis Palma and Hayato Inamura will leave permanently after being out on loan.

Odin Thiago Holm will probably join that group, having failed to match his potential.

Paulo Bernardo was well thought of at one point but his performances went off a cliff last season. Maybe Scottish football just doesn't suit him and O'Neill barely played him after taking over, twice, so expect him to leave.

Shin Yamada and Johnny Kenny are simply not good enough and will leave permanently after also being out on loan.

Any money gained back by selling Tounekti and Balikwisha after just a year would be a bonus.

Celtic's dream squad for 2026-27 season

Goalkeepers: Mathew Ryan, Viljami Sinisalo, Ross Doohan.

Defenders: Alistair Johnston, Colby Donovan, Anthony Ralston, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Liam Scales, Auston Trusty, Zinedin Smajlovic, Kieran Tierney, Dane Murray, another left-back.

Midfielders: Callum McGregor, Arne Engels, Luke McCowan, Benjamin Tahirovic, Soufiane El-Faouzi, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Forwards: Kelechi Iheanacho, Evan Ferguson, Kasper Hogh, Jakob Breum, James Forrest, Jota, Yang, Tairyk Arconte, Callum Osmand.

Written by

Martin Macdonald | Writer

Martin Macdonald. a Content Writer for FootballTransfers and FootballTransfers USA, as well as the Business Operations Manager for RealTimes Network, has worked in football reporting for over 15 years, starting at GOAL and Perform Media before moving to RealTimes. He was formerly the Chief Editor of MovieMeter.com and has also written for FightFans, GPFans and MSN.

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