The six summer Deadline Day signings made by Celtic are threatening to under perform the January deals completed by Michael Nicholson.
Julian Araujo, Tomas Cvancara and Junior Adamu made a slight impact on last season but it all ended with Martin O’Neill abandoning them to put his trust on the players he inherited.
Araujo was briefly a fan favourite, Cvancara popped away a penalty at Ibrox with Adamu scoring a late equaliser against Dundee to keep Celtic in the Scottish Cup.
It is early days but it is looking very ominous for the six players brought in ahead of the UEFA transfer deadline on September 2.
One of them hasn’t been seen at Lennoxtown, another hasn’t played a minute of action, there is another that managed 10 minutes at Ibrox and has been ditched ever since.
It is a horrific record of recruitment. It is recruitment for the sake of it and leaves the club with a fourth successive disastrous transfer window to deal with.
ANOTHER DISASTROUS RECRUITMENT RUN FROM CELTIC
Sam Johnstone: Signed on UEFA transfer Deadline Day and registered in the Europa League squad.
He has played two full matches, although not to blame directly for any of the goals lost at Ibrox his performance was one of nervousness throughout.
Jordon Lotomba: Feyenoord were delighted to release the full back with Celtic picking up the contract on Deadline Day. So far he has played 10 minutes at left-back in the League Cup defeat at Ibrox.
Oliver Sorenson: Has been the most involved on the six late signings but that is hardly an endorsement. Starting against St Johnstone and Ferencvaros he cane off the bench away to St Mirren. It looks ominous after being substituted at half-time against Ferencvaros that he missed out on the squad for Sunday’s Glasgow Derby.
Shim Mheuka: The only arrival to bring some positivity. His five appearances off the bench have totalled 30 minutes playing time, coming on as last substitute on Sunday after 88 minutes was frankly ridiculous. Not included in Europa League squad.
Joel van den Berg: The only post LASK permanent signing, it doesn’t look promising for a project from PSV Eindhoven arriving into a crisis. After being listed twice as a substitute he has missed the last two matches and was pictured in a moon-boot on Sunday. Not included in Europa League squad.
Landon Emenalo: The greatest mystery of all. It is believed that he hasn’t been at Lennoxtown since his signing on September. What club would sign an injured 18-year-old without a minute of senior football to cover for the established international with a track record of being able to complete 90 minutes.
Jokes over, show us the actual team.
— BatesyBhoy ??????? (@BatesyBhoy1967) September 20, 2026
WORSE THAN JANUARY 2026?
The six post LASK signings have been a complete waste of time with the exception of Mheuka.
Why his appearances have been so rationed is hard to explain. Just like the decision to leave him out of the squad for the Europa League.
A new manager will at least have a goal threat to work with which is more than Brendan Rodgers was left with a year ago.
The other signings look destined to be remembered like Junior Adamu, Joel Mveuka and Ben Arthur.
Joe your article sums up perfectly the great job Nicholson is doing, we’re so lucky to have a first class CEO and making Celtic a world class operation…call me a pessimist but can wait till the rat face b*****d is ran out the door.