One thing that Celtic deserve immense credit for is the kind of players that they have signed over the course of this season, both in the summer and in January. Players like Kyogo Furuhashi, Jota, Giorgos Giakoumakis, Liel Abada, Josip Juranovic, Carl Starfelt, Daizen Maeda, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Reo Hatate, Matt O’Riley, Joe Hart and more have all joined the club following the appointment of Ange Postecoglou as manager.
It goes without saying that they have had a positive impact. That is pretty evident from how well Celtic have done this season. They have already won the Scottish League Cup, are leading the Premiership title race by six points and are in the Scottish Cup semi-finals as well.
It is an incredible turnaround to say the least and it will be very interesting to see what kind of moves the Hoops make in the upcoming summer transfer window. They have been handed a blow in that regard by Newcastle United though.
As reported by the Irish Examiner back in February, Celtic had joined the race to sign Galway United’s Alex Murphy. But now, as reported by RTE, Newcastle United are set to sign the defender, who will move to England after he turns 18 in the summer.
Celtic handed Murphy transfer blow by Newcastle United
It is safe to say that Murphy is one of the highest rated young talents in all of Ireland at the moment. Other than Newcastle United and Celtic, he has also been linked with West Bromwich Albion.
Losing the transfer race to Newcastle United would represent an additional blow to Celtic, as the Premier League club are managed by Eddie Howe, who had turned down the chance to move to Parkhead last summer.
Murphy was not expected to come in and make an impact at Celtic straightaway. Thus, this is not an immediate blow for the club but could very well be one in the future, depending on how the Galway United star develops.
Celtic do need to strengthen their youth ranks, having lost some of their most promising youngsters in recent years to clubs all around Europe. Ben Doak, who made his senior debut this season, looks set to add his name to that list soon, as he appears to be closing in on a move to Liverpool.