2011–12: Victor Wanyama
The first season of the nine saw what looked, at first, like an underwhelming summer.
We had spent money on only two players, for a combined cost of less than £3 million. After losing the last three titles it seemed an underwhelming response. But two things had happened which were to prove to be major game changers, and we didn’t even know what the first was.
Obviously, events at Ibrox were about to overtake the game but at Celtic we had got things broadly right.
Our biggest signing proved, actually, to be the biggest let-down … it was Mo Bangura, at £2.2 million and who contributed next to nothing.
In that same window though, we’d brought Adam Matthews and Kelvin Wilson on frees, we’d got Fraser Forster and El Kaddouri on loan … but the star of the window, the best signing by far, was one who caused us a pittance; £900,000 for Victor Wanyama.
That was a game-changer.
Not bad for a relative unknown who wasn’t expected to make much of an impact early on.
It showed our scouting system was starting to work.