Celtic Set To Make Good, Early, On Their Transfer Promises To The Manager.

Earlier today, James posted a piece where pointed out that Ange’s comments yesterday don’t need a translator when you consider that they are simply a continuation of what he has been saying for many weeks.

He expects to get what he wants in this window and he has identified not only the areas where he needs new players but the players he needs.

This is where I get to write not so much about transfer rumours – which is why I’m here after all – but to write about something closer to a transfer “done deal.”

According to multiple sources, including Stephen McGowan of the Daily Mail, who whatever James thinks of him we recognise is one of the best informed journalists out there, our first signing of the window will be the Japanese defender and midfielder Reo Hatate.

He is out of contract; negotiations will have been underway for a while.

He will be arriving shortly before his countryman Daizen Maeda, the striker from Ange’s previous club, is expected to join him. If Ange gets these two and his other midfielder, I think we’ll be pretty near done with what he wants to do.

Three players on top of the twelve from the summer will make this about as comprehensive a one season rebuilding job as we’ve ever had.

It’s possible that the manager has identified other areas, but if we can get three deals done early then we’ll have the platform for the rest of the season and anything we do after that will be a bonus.

Which brings me to the two players here already on loan.

Carver Vickers wants to stay and has made that clear. I think Jota has also made his position pretty clear even if he can’t be explicit about it. Yet there seems to be a kind of panic when it comes to him, with a clickbait purveyor and one of its dumb and ignorant columnists suggesting that we need to rush the deal through to avoid a “transfer battle.”

But there won’t be any transfer battle if the player is happy at Celtic.

The simple fact is that we have the first refusal on him, for a set fee.

If we decide to exercise that option and the player is happy with that then it doesn’t matter if Barcelona are sniffing on the horizon and willing to pay three times what our clause is … if the player likes the idea, it’s a done deal.

If he doesn’t then we’re not going to keep him no matter how quickly we try to tie things up. He’s not daft and neither are his agents. If they decide to explore their options, we won’t get him to sign early anyway.

All we can do is trust in the process decided by the manager – for it is Ange who is running the show here in the absence of a full football department. He decides the pace of all this.

He makes the key calls.

Have faith in that folks and ignore the white noise.

The Rumour Guy is a Celtic fan and blogger from Glasgow.