Celtic appear to be on the brink of paying £5.5m for Camilo Duran from Qarabag.
When the striker was first linked with Celtic on June 19 the fee being quoted was £2m.
That seemed to quickly rise to £3m with reports claiming that Celtic’s initial bid was of £1.7m.
Almost three weeks later Duran is expected to become Celtic’s first signing of the summer.
Before playing Shelbourne last night Martin O’Neill confirmed to Premier Sports that the transfer was almost completed.
Duran is believed to be undergoing a medical. If all goes well he will become the first Colombian to join Celtic.
Wow that price escalated quite quickly
— Doley Dunk ???????? (@dunkoot) July 7, 2026
Celtic have agreed to pay £5.5million to secure Qarabag striker Camilo Duran as their first summer signing.
The Colombian is en route to Glasgow to complete formalities after catching the eye with 15 goals in all competitions last season, including Champions League strikes against Newcastle, Eintracht Frankfurt, Benfica and Ajax.
Scouted extensively in recent months, lengthy negotiations have now ended with an agreement between the two sides for the left-footed attacker.
A deal in excess of £5million represents a significant profit for Qarabag after signing from Portimonense for £200,000 last summer.
The Azerbaijani side are scheduled to compete in the Europa League first qualifying round this week, but agreed to sell in time for Duran to be available for Celtic’s Champions League play-off.
That fee represents a spectacular return for Qarabag.
Getting five Champions League goals from any signing is fantastic news. Selling him within 12 months for 30 times the price paid is the sort of return that every club is looking for.
QARABAG STRIKE GOLD WITH THEIR DURAN DEAL
Whoever spotted the potential of Duran at Portimonense obviously knows their stuff.
Modern transfer fees are a complex business. Portimonense are likely to have a sell-on clause, Qarabag are likely to look for a sell-on clause as they sell Duran on to Celtic.
Having sold Kyogo Furuhashi, Nicolas Kuhn and Adam Idah during 2025 Celtic fans are anxious to watch a regular goalscorer leading the line.
Callum Osmand and Shin Yamada were given 45 minutes each against Shelbourne with Johnny Kenny the only other option.
Duran is expected to join the Celtic squad in Portugal in the coming days and could be involved in Tuesday’s friendly against Sporting Lisbon.
Celtic return to Glasgow for friendlies against Middlebrough and AC Milan ahead of the SPFL Premiership opener against Dundee on August 3.
The clock will then move quickly to the Champions League Play Off matches on August 18/19 and 25/26.
That gives O’Neill three friendlies then three competitive games before the most important match of the season.
Who are the ‘deep throats ‘ who inform scoops about every detail about incoming new recruits and their contracts with each club ? The guy has not signed for Celtic yet , but McGowan allegedly knows what he will be wearing next Thursday and what he is eating for lunch on Friday such is his knowledge of what’s occurring ? How come …is somebody somewhere getting a nice ‘bung ‘ for information ? Because if so then the information has to come from a secretary or a board member as anyone from hospitality or security won’t have clue number 1 as to what’s what ?
Is he a winger or centre forward we still need s forward with height and physically and the same in midfield and with vickers back and the Polish back from loan plus Murray we seem well covered centre half wise ok” its midfield and forwards we need sorting and maybe full back cover.
Paid because another club came in for him total amateurs
Regardless of his reputation, if we don’t sign the players to back him up, what’s the point?