Yesterday Celtic had just one starter from summer transfer window…
One interesting stat mentioned on the post-match review on Celtic Exchange podcast was that there was just one summer 2023 signing in the Celtic starting eleven against St Mirren yesterday afternoon. That surely tells us something about the success of that transfer window and maybe the strategy of bringing in so many project players rather than first team starters.
The Celtic team that started against St Mirren yesterday featured January 2024 signing Adam Idah in the centre-forward role. There were three Celtic Academy graduates in the team – the captain Callum McGregor alongside Stephen Welsh and Anthony Ralston. Six Celtic starters were signed by the previous manager Ange Postecoglou (Joe Hart, Liam Scales, Alexandro Bernabei, Matt O’Riley and the two goalscorers Kyogo and Daizen Maeda. And finally from the summer 2023 transfer window only Luis Palma started.
In midweek against Hibs the most expensive signing in the starting eleven was Alexandro Bernabei while yesterday he dropped to second spot behind Kyogo. Here’s yesterday team again…
HART – Ange Postecoglou signing
RALSTON – Celtic Academy
WELSH – Celtic Academy
SCALES – Ange Postecoglou signing
BERNABEI – Ange Postecoglou signing
McGREGOR – Celtic Academy
O’RILEY – Ange Postecoglou signing
PALMA – Brendan Rodgers Summer signing
MAEDA – Ange Postecoglou signing
IDAH – Brendan Rodgers January signing (on loan)
KYOGO – Ange Postecoglou signing
Three summer 2023 signings were on the bench – Yang, Maik Nawrocki, Paulo Bernardo – or perhaps four if you include Tomoki Iwata (and it’s nice to see him back after being out with an injuy picked up against Feyenoord in the Champions League in December).
Also on the bench was the squad’s great survivor Scott Bain, a Brendan Rodgers signing the first time around, another Ange signing in Oh and recent signing in the January window, Nicolas Kuhn. Two further Celtic Academy players Rocco Vata and Daniel Kelly made up the squad for the fifth round Scottish Cup tie.
Summer 2023 signings not in the squad were Gustaf Lagerbielke, Thiago Holm plus obviously the two summer signings who have been sent out on loan (Kwon and Marco Tilio).
The point is that the jury is well and truly out on the summer window last year, to say the least and it’s one worth making as presumably preparations are already underway for the summer 2024 transfer window.
