Nine days after questioning the ambitions of Celtic in the transfer market Brendan Rodgers is still waiting for a signing reaction from the club.
A loan deal to sign Jahmai Simpson-Pusey from Manchester City seems to be in the final stages of being completed with Rodgers opening up on a number of issues during a 22 minute media conference.
St Mirren did get a token mention, with praise for the work of Steven Robinson but the main thrust was about transfer in/activity and the future of the manager, two issues that are so closely linked that they are almost impossible to separate.
The SPFL Premiership season kicks off today with little evidence that Celtic have strengthened over the close season.
Kieran Tierney is an upgrade on Greg Taylor and Ben Nygren is a very useful addition to the options in midfield.
Against that the goals and assists of Nicolas Kuhn have been lost, with Jota still injured Daizen Maeda is the only option available on the left wing with a strong argument that the Japanese internationalist is better used through the middle as a striker.
Those issues and more are being discussed and debated across fan media as a trickle of transfer activity continued on Friday.
Are you happy with Celtic's transfer activity
Absolutely- fantastic business
I will judge on September 1
Horrific- feels like 2023 again
?? Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC are pleased to announce the signing of centre-back Mitchell Robertson on loan from Celtic FC until the end of the season.
?? https://t.co/6MdcVw7YEV pic.twitter.com/TAyG5YzPVw
— Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC (@ICTFC) August 1, 2025
Robertson was involved in the Celtic first team friendlies against Queens Park and Cork City then captained the B team against Broxburn Athletic and Civil Service Strollers, joining his ‘third’ team of the season he said:
I’m excited with this move, the club has big ambitions of where they want to be. It’s been a quick turnaround; I spoke to the gaffer who was great with me so I’m looking forward to getting started.
One time Celtic youth team midfielder Scott Kellacher, now managing Caley Thistle said:
We’re over the moon to get Mitchell in, he’ll be a massive addition for us. He gives us that bit of strength in depth in the centre-back position.”
We’d like to thank Shaun Maloney, Jonny Hayes and Celtic FC for their assistance with this loan agreement.
During Friday’s media conference Rodgers was happy to discuss Simpson-Pusey in detail, not something that usually happens without the player having been announced as a signing.
Nothing came out of Celtic or Manchester City on Friday but covering the media conference Rodgers mentioned that qualities that the teenage defender will bring:
A very gifted young player, obviously coming through the system there at Manchester City. His profile fits very much what we want from a centre-half. He’s quick, he’s dominant, he’s a good defender, and of course, at Celtic, your centre-halves need to be able to progress the ball. That’s a big strength of his.
So we’ve taken him on loan for a year. We always need all our centre-halves at Celtic; you play so many games, so many intense games, and he’ll join our squad.
He’s obviously a little bit behind because he hasn’t played so many games over the course of pre-season, but we’ve brought him through for the rest of the season, and hopefully, we can close that one out today.
Celtic’s friendly win over Newcastle United looked to have been the farewell appearance, off the bench for Marco Tilio, but two weeks on he is still in Scotland.
Rapid Vienna had the fine detail of a loan with an option to buy but Anthony Joseph on X/Twitter last night pointed out that that move is in danger of falling through:
UPDATE: Rapid Vienna are putting pressure on Celtic to green-light a move for Marco Tilio before they move on to other targets. They’ve agreed a £350k loan deal, with an obligation to buy for £1.3m, but Celtic have since paused the move as they look for a winger.
