Celtic appear to be on the brink of signing Mika Baur from Paderborn.
Three weeks ago Fabrizio Romano tweeted that personal terms had been agreed with the midfielder.
That obviously overlooked one key aspect of any transfer deal. A deal between the clubs.
Celtic’s initial offer was reported to be for £4m.
Initially it seems that £500,000 has been added to that with Paderborn insuring themselves with a series of add-ons.
That will almost certainly include a slice of any future profit if the midfielder follows the well trodden path out of Celtic.
While the Baur deal appears to be coming to a conclusion there is parallel speculation that Arne Engels could be on his way to West Ham.
Celtic signed Engels from Augsburg two years ago. Celtic paid a record fee of £11m for the midfielder, now it will take an offer of over £20m to sign the Belgian internationalist.
UPDATE: Celtic have agreed a deal worth £6.8m for Paderborn midfielder Mika Baur.
It’s understood the Scottish champions will pay an initial fee of around £4.5m, with £2.3m in add-ons.
Baur, 22, was absent from Paderborn’s training today and is due to travel to the UK for a… https://t.co/fMcfcZSbtP pic.twitter.com/n04VYRMByQ
— Anthony Joseph (@AnthonyRJoseph) August 12, 2026
If all goes to schedule Baur should be included in the Celtic squad for the Champions League Play Off ties.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SIGNING TIMELINE FOR CELTIC
That squad has to be registered by 11pm on Thursday. With the transfer window in full flow two changes can be made by 11pm on August 18, the day before the first leg.
Baur has been training with Paderborn but their Bundesliga campaign doesn’t start until August 29.
That timeline suggests that he will be a few weeks behind his new Celtic team-mates.
It seems unlikely that any new signings will be involved against Dundee United in Saturday’s League Cup tie.
Baur could be on the bench for the matches against LASK as Celtic attempt to return to the Champions League after missing out last season.
So far Celtic have only added two signings to their squad with Kasper Hogh and Camilo Duran arriving.
A total of 16 players have left. Off them only Kelechi Iheanacho, Marcelo Saracchi and Daizen Maeda were heavily involved in last season’s double triumph.
There seems to be a noticeable change in Celtic’s signing policy, going for proven players who are also still young. A bit like Arne Engels who’s been blossoming these last 8 months or so. This can only be a good thing and really is a sea-change within the plc.
This should in no way mean it’s all hunky dory and business as usual, it’s not and never again should be unless the impossible happens and we start to flourish into the football club we all (mostly?) know we can be. Money talks so I’m guessing Not Another Penny is starting to get its aim. If so, a massive WELL DONE to the Celtic Fans Collective and to those, like me, who backed them. Full craic, I loved the idea of the CFC, joined it and made one contribution to its fighting fund and then had doubts they were a bit toothless. Whatever the full truth and reasons for change in the signing policy, if indeed it is, it wasn’t without supporter rebellion and that’s what rebels are supposed to do.
End of story, albeit slowly, we’re certainly upping our game in the plc. Keep it up, please.
After the Killie game where it was possible to both watch Celtic and relax for the 1st time in ages I just feel ‘buzzing’ now with the new recruits and more to come.
This is The Glasgow Celtic I want and have supported all my life. WELL DONE TO ALL INVOLVED.
The ‘sleeping giant’ may just be stirring!