It would be safe to say that Celtic fans are not happy right now. Even though they already hold a two-point lead over the Rangers in the Scottish Premiership, the state of the squad has left the supporters worried. For some reason, the Hoops have shown little urgency in the transfer market even though they know that they will get past Champions League qualifiers later this month.
The transfer strategy makes little sense. The club have brought in €19 million from Nicolas Kuhn's move to Como FC, plus another significant figure due to the sell-on clause they had in Jeremie Frimpong's Bayer Leverkusen deal. Yet, Celtic have spent only £3 million on transfer fees so far in this window.
It appears that they might be waiting to find out if the club qualify for the Champions League or not, before deciding on how much they want to spend this summer. Of course, that feels like a counterproductive approach, considering the participation money that comes from just making the competition.
Why not make a push for it rather than wait and hope? Naturally, a lot of questions have been raised about the board. And it looks like we have found out one answer at least.
'Lawwell has personally assured me' - Big Celtic transfer claim made
As reported by CeltsAreHere, Hugh Keevins said while speaking on Clyde 1 Superscoreboard:
"Peter Lawwell has personally assured me that he has nothing whatsoever to do with transfers. Nothing at all. He may be the chairman of the club, but he has told me, and in no uncertain terms, that he has nothing to do with transfers.
“So, you’re looking at Michael Nicholson, who’s the CEO, and all of those in the recruitment department."
Well, that clears up two things. First, Lawwell does not have anything to do with transfers. And second, just the fact that such claims are being made in the media shows how this window is being viewed.
Of course, all of this means little. The important thing is for Celtic go out and strengthen. But unfortunately, it does not look like they are trying to do that before the Champions League qualifiers. No move seems imminent at the moment. Very disappointing for sure but not completely unexpected.