Celtic fans have voiced their displeasure over the club's lack of summer transfer activity, with Saturday's pre-season friendly against Middlesbrough attracting a sparse crowd at Celtic Park. The 1-1 draw, in which Camilo Duran—the club's only summer signing—scored the equaliser, came amid growing criticism that the Scottish champions have failed to strengthen their squad adequately.
Martin O'Neill, the Celtic manager, acknowledged the frustration but insisted progress was being made. "We will bolster the squad," he said. "We are making some progress. We'll hopefully see a couple of new faces by the time that we kick the season off." However, he stopped short of making firm promises, citing the collapse of a deal to re-sign Kelechi Iheanacho as an example of how transfers can fall apart.
“Celtic fans frustrated as O'Neill admits Iheanacho deal collapsed and Saracchi return failed.”
The Nigerian striker, who spent last season on loan at Celtic, rejected a new contract and instead signed for Bursaspor, a club recently promoted to Turkey's second tier. O'Neill revealed: "We thought we had a deal with Iheanacho and it didn't go. It was something we thought we had sorted out." Reports suggested Bursaspor offered the 29-year-old a higher salary, but O'Neill added: "There are two sides to every particular transfer as there is to every story."
Similarly, the manager had hoped to retain left-back Marcelo Saracchi after his loan spell from Boca Juniors. The Uruguayan posted on Instagram that he and his agent "did absolutely everything within our power to make a return to Glasgow happen", but O'Neill conceded: "Saracchi's done very well at the football club and there's circumstances which seemingly it was never going to happen."
Celtic chief executive Michael Nicholson admitted it was proving "difficult" to add to the squad because the club faces competition from big-spending teams in England's top two divisions. The club's only summer addition so far is Colombian striker Duran, who has scored twice in pre-season.
With the Premiership season starting at home to Dundee on 3 August, O'Neill will be hoping to have new recruits in place before then—though as the Iheanacho saga shows, deals can unravel at the last moment.