Chris Sutton has not been impressed with Celtic's lack of transfer business this summer. It has been a slow start to the summer for the Bhoys, who are yet to make a move despite the transfer window now being open.
A large part of the delay is down to struggles in appointing Martin O'Neill following the end of the season. O'Neill admitted he needed time to reflect before taking on the role full-time, but that will surely have caused some of the delay we are seeing in recruitment.
O'Neill wants to see significant recruitment this summer, but the Bhoys are already playing catch-up compared to their rivals.
Sutton on the slow start to summer dealings
Former Celtic striker Sutton has not been impressed by what he has seen from the Bhoys recruitment chiefs so far this summer.
“Rangers have already brought in a new manager and signed a reliable goal scorer. Hearts have had a rough month, but they have brought in five new players,” he told the Daily Record.
“Celtic are now days away from pre-season, and the dugout hasn’t properly been confirmed yet, and that’s before they even get to signing players."
It's no secret that Celtic's poor recruitment last summer played a significant role in the poor start the Hoops endured.
Sutton added: “They’ve seen this before. I got some stick for raising the alarm bell early in pre-season 12 months ago, but it was because I could see the potential problems coming down the pipeline. There’s time to avoid a repeat, but it is marching on.”
Sutton's concerns are valid
Sutton's concerns are more than valid. One would think Celtic would have learned from last season, and while there are some valid excuses like the O'Neill appointment delay, we are now a month removed from the end of the season, and while other clubs wrap up deals, it doesn't feel as though the Hoops are overly close to getting their first business of the season wrapped up.
The timing of deals is not always important, and Celtic fans would prefer the quality of the deals to live up to expectations, but there is a lot of business to take care of, and the likely exits like those involving Arne Engels, Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate will only be causing more concern.
Celtic need to get their skates on, and quickly, with pre-season only a couple of weeks away.
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