Marcelo Saracchi Has Finally Revealed The Truth And Celtic’s Transfer Decisions Look Worse By The Week

Sometimes a player comes out with an interview months after a transfer window closes and suddenly a lot of things start making more sense.

Marcelo Saracchi has just done exactly that.

We already knew Martin O’Neill wanted the Uruguayan back at Celtic. O’Neill publicly said during the summer that he wanted to bring him back and confirmed Celtic had spoken to his agent.

What we didn’t know was quite how one-sided those conversations appear to have become.

Saracchi has now revealed that he and his agent pushed hard for a return to Glasgow, but says there was “not much interest” coming back from Celtic. He eventually accepted it wasn’t happening and moved to Houston Dynamo.

So let me get this straight.

The manager wanted him and the player wanted to come.

His agent was trying to make it happen.

And Celtic never even made Boca Juniors an offer?

It’s pish.

Because once you start digging into the numbers, it becomes even harder for me to understand.

Saracchi Was Hardly Out Of Celtic’s Price Range

Saracchi eventually moved to Houston for a reported $1.3million deal, with Boca retaining a 40 per cent sell-on. Boca owned only 60 per cent of his economic rights, with another portion held elsewhere. Earlier reports had Houston offering around $1.1million for Boca’s 60 per cent stake.

That matters.

We’re not talking about Celtic being asked to spend £10million on a reserve left-back.

What we are talking about is a player who had already spent a year here, knew the club, knew the manager, wanted to come back and had demonstrated that he could play his part in a successful Celtic team.

Even if acquiring a greater share of his economic rights would have complicated the structure or increased the overall cost — and we don’t know what price the other rights-holders would have demanded — nothing I’ve found suggests this was financially beyond Celtic.

Houston got the deal done.

That’s the bit I can’t get away from.

This is Glasgow Celtic.

Calling Saracchi A Back-Up Left-Back Misses The Point

People will say: “But Kieran Tierney is the first-choice left-back.”

Of course he is.

But Celtic don’t need a conventional back-up to Kieran Tierney. They need someone capable of effectively job-sharing with him.

Tierney’s injury history means managing his workload is hardly some great secret. Celtic knew that before bringing him home.

Saracchi made 27 appearances in all competitions for Celtic last season, despite missing 12 consecutive matches with a hamstring injury during the campaign.

Think about that for a second.

Twenty-seven appearances despite effectively losing a significant chunk of the season.

Had Saracchi remained fit throughout, I don’t think suggesting he could have featured 40-plus times is remotely unreasonable. This wasn’t some emergency player who appeared twice when Tierney had a cold.

He had a proper role.

That’s exactly what Celtic still require.

Instead, Celtic eventually brought in 18-year-old Landon Emenalo on loan from Chelsea.

And before anybody misunderstands me, this is absolutely no criticism of the boy.

It isn’t fair to put this on him.

Emenalo has never played a senior competitive first-team game for Chelsea. His experience has primarily come at academy and Under-21 level, although he did travel with Chelsea’s senior squad and featured during pre-season.

Worse still, Celtic signed him while he was already carrying an injury. O’Neill himself acknowledged the injury immediately after the window and said he was prepared to wait for him. Weeks later, Celtic have already had to use centre-half Liam Scales as cover on that side.

That’s some downgrade in immediate readiness.

From an experienced Uruguay international who had already played 27 times for Celtic, wanted to return and was trusted by O’Neill…

…to an injured 18-year-old without a senior competitive appearance.

Again, that’s not Emenalo’s fault.

The question is why Celtic allowed themselves to arrive there.

And Saracchi Isn’t An Isolated Example

This is where the story becomes bigger than one left-back.

Look at Gvidas Gineitis.

O’Neill has publicly admitted Celtic had “more than an interest” in the Torino midfielder.

But the comments from Gineitis’ agent afterwards were fascinating.

Dmitri Vinokurov said Celtic’s coaching staff and football people were genuinely keen. He’d had a video call with the coaches and described them as very positive about his client.

But he claimed not everybody inside Celtic’s management was equally convinced about sanctioning the transfer.

His conclusion was pretty damning: when a transfer requires several decision-makers, if the person controlling the money doesn’t agree, “it just doesn’t happen.”

There’s your pattern again.

The football side wants a player.

The deal doesn’t happen.

Then There Was Balázs Tóth

Celtic also tried to sign Blackburn goalkeeper Balázs Tóth late in the window.

A reported £2.5million bid was rejected while O’Neill was looking for additional quality in goal following Kasper Schmeichel’s retirement.

Again, Celtic eventually moved elsewhere.

Now, missing individual transfer targets happens to every football club on the planet. I’m not daft enough to suggest that because Martin O’Neill likes somebody, Celtic should simply hand the selling club a blank cheque.

Gineitis at £8million is an entirely different financial decision from Saracchi at around the £1million mark.

But eventually you have to look at what the manager wanted and compare it with what the team actually needed.

Because we’re now seeing the consequences.

Celtic Are Giving Up An Absurd Number Of Chances

After eight competitive games this season, Celtic had already faced 130 shots, including an astonishing 60 across the two LASK games alone.

Then came the really worrying week.

Celtic conceded three against Rangers, three against Ferencvaros and another against Rangers at Celtic Park. Across those three defeats alone, opponents managed 42 attempts.

I’ve heard someone on my live chat today on The Bhoycie Bus say we had conceded 240 shots on goal this season so far. I’ve not had a chance to double check this.

Frankly, the numbers we can verify are bad enough.

And what was one of O’Neill’s major summer targets?

A 6ft 3in midfielder in Gineitis whose game is built around physicality and breaking up play.

Do you think Celtic could use one of them right now?

I certainly do.

Chris Sutton watched the latest Rangers defeat and described Celtic as “very lightweight”, specifically pointing to the lack of physicality in midfield.

That’s exactly the area Celtic spent the summer trying — and ultimately failing — to properly address.

Who Is Actually Building This Celtic Team?

That’s the question Saracchi’s interview has left me asking.

This isn’t really about Marcelo Saracchi anymore, it’s gone.

O’Neill wanted Saracchi.

There was serious interest in Gineitis.

Celtic bid for Tóth.

Different deals failed for different reasons, and we shouldn’t pretend they’re identical.

But when the manager identifies positions he wants strengthened, the club doesn’t deliver his preferred options, and then the exact weaknesses those players were supposed to address start appearing on the pitch, supporters are perfectly entitled to ask questions.

Saracchi is the one that annoys me most because it appears so avoidable.

He knew Celtic.

Celtic knew him.

O’Neill wanted him.

The player wanted Celtic.

He’d already shown he could share the position with Tierney.

And the eventual transfer fee elsewhere was hardly astronomical.

Yet Celtic apparently never even reached the point of making Boca an offer.

That’s not missing out on a £30million superstar.

That’s failing to complete what, on the face of it, looked like one of the simplest deals of Celtic’s entire summer.

And now we’re watching Liam Scales fill in at left-back while the young player Celtic eventually signed for that position hasn’t been available.

Sometimes football really doesn’t need to be this complicated.

Celtic have somehow found a way to make it so.

Keep Your Eyes On The Board.