Celtic plot summer rebuild as 18 players up for sale

Cameron Smith

6 Mar 2026 09:30 CST
3 min read

Celtic are plotting a major summer rebuild that could reportedly result in as many as 18 players leaving the club before the end of Transfer Deadline Day.

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The Hoops have endured a tough 2025-26 season and they are currently five points behind Scottish Premiership league leaders Hearts, having lost seven of their 29 fixtures so far this term.

Interim boss Martin O’Neill has confirmed that he will not be at the helm next campaign, while the club will be required to sign a number of players to replace the loanees who arrived in January.

The Scottish giants are currently searching for a new permanent head coach, but assistant manager Shaun Maloney has already begun working with the club’s recruitment team in an attempt to identify suitable summer targets.

That is according to The Herald, who claim that Motherwell winger Elijah Just and Hibernian midfielder Miguel Chaiwa have both been added to Celtic’s transfer wishlist ahead of the summer.

Just has scored six goals and provided six assists in 25 league matches for Motherwell, amid their unlikely late title push, while Chaiwa has been wanted by a number of top clubs, including Fiorentina, for several months due to his eye-catching form for Hibernian.

© IMAGO - Daizen Maeda is among the Celtic players who could leave this summer

Celtic plot summer overhaul

Meanwhile, The Herald also report that as many as 18 players could be set to depart Celtic Park this summer.

Daizen Maeda, Reo Hatate, Kasper Schmeichel and Kelechi Iheanacho have all been tipped to leave the club following the conclusion of the 2025-26 season, and loanees such as Julian Araujo, Joel Mvuka and Benjamin Arthur are expected to return to their parent clubs.

Arne Engels is likely to be the subject of significant transfer interest too, following Nottingham Forest’s failed bid to sign him in January, while Sebastian Tounekti also has suitors across Europe.

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