As Celtic’s Transfer Business Ramps Up, The Pressure Across Town Does Too.

Celtic’s transfer business is about to dramatically step up a gear, now that Carter Vickers has been captured. As I said to you guys earlier in the month, get ready for a sudden burst of activity which will most probably be followed by relative quiet.

I’m not saying that we’ll get all our transfer business done in a week, but we will get the bulk of it done in a spell before the team reports for pre-season training. The manager wants it that way, and he knows the type of players he wants.

If the board negotiators are on the ball then he will get what he wants in short order.

Earlier on today, I wrote a piece about how the media is pretending everything is calm at Ibrox when things are anything but. The pressure on them to make at least one major sale is acute.

They also need to move on the three players in the last year of their deals. Goldson had no serious offers from England. Kent will have offers, and so will Aribo and Morelos.

Not the kind of offers that would get Ibrox those mammoth fees … but these guys will not be allowed to explore those options at the end of their deals in the way that Goldson was. For all the hype that surrounded his re-signing, the club was – if you noticed – very relaxed about the running down of his contract. They didn’t regard him as a sellable asset.

How many players will Celtic attempt to sign? Rumours vary on that. As many as six?

That’s what some folk are saying.

I wonder if it’ll be that high. Four, for sure. A keeper, a centre back, a central midfielder and a left back. Some have said we want a left midfielder and another striker as well.

Time will tell, but even four would be serious business.

For all that the media wants to avoid putting Ibrox under pressure, they know that we can certainly manage to do it. Our club could put them under savage scrutiny if it completes the deal for Jota and then ramps up the business with the swift closure of some additional deals.

If we can get Ajeti off the wage bill another striker might follow.

If we get loans for Montgomery and Johnson, I can see us going for the midfielder on the left.

The thing is, the more we do the more pressure there is on Ibrox to genuinely pull a rabbit out of the hat. That has often resulted in highly amusing rush-job business, none more so than the Ramsey deal which will be a source of hilarity for us far into the future.

Once it becomes clear that we are genuinely making the squad better and getting into character for the next campaign, the sound of nail biting will start to grow in volume over there, followed by the sound of teeth grinding, then gnashing, then the wailing will start and finally the moon-howling over why they aren’t spending the European money.

That puts the board in a tricky spot.

It is going to be interesting seeing them squirm.

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