Celtic have a decent record when it comes to identifying talents in recent years. That reputation was built up mostly during the time of Ange Postecoglou as manager. One cannot forget the terrible summer transfer window that the club had in 2020, one of the main reasons why their quest to win 10IAR failed so badly.
The only signing from that window, who still has a role in this team is David Turnbull. And even he was not much of a feature in the previous two seasons.
The marquee signing in the summer of 2020 was probably Albian Ajeti. The Swiss international was brought in from West Ham United for a transfer fee around £5 million but he failed to score even 10 goals over his time at Celtic.
His run in Glasgow has now come to an end. As reported by Football Scotland, Ajeti has signed a permanent deal with Turkish outfit Gaziantep FK. The club released a statement that read:
"“Our Gaziantep Football Club has reached a 1+1 year agreement with Swiss striker Albian Ajeti.“At the signing ceremony attended by our Vice President İbrahim Dicle, Ajeti signed the official contract binding him to our red-black club. We welcome Ajeti to our club and wish him great success under our crest.”"
Celtic player completes permanent exit after Deadline Day
It remains to be seen what the future holds for Ajeti in Turkey. It will be interesting to see if he is able to rediscover his best form.
He was a highly-rated striker during his time at FC Basel and it is perhaps that potential which convinced Celtic to shell out a big transfer fee to sign him from West Ham United. In hindsight, that proved to be the wrong decision on their part. Now, let’s see what Ajeti is able to do now that he has left the club. The move to Gaziantep FK was only possible because the Turkish transfer window is still open.
Ajeti’s numbers from his run at Celtic do not make for good reading. According to stats from Transfermarkt, he scored 9 goals and provided 5 assists in 48 appearances for the club.