Old Firm Rivalry Heats Up in Transfer Market
The season has not yet kicked a ball in anger, but the Old Firm are already trading blows in the market.
Celtic and Rangers are circling the same prey in Italy, plotting major squad surgery at home, and wrestling with interest from England in some of the Premiership’s most valuable assets. The noise around Glasgow is growing by the day.
Old Firm duel for Fares Ghedjemis
On one front, the rivalry has gone continental. Both Celtic and Rangers are chasing Fares Ghedjemis, the 23-year-old winger at Frosinone.
The Algerian has caught the eye in Serie A, and his profile fits the modern wide forward template: direct, energetic, and with room to grow. It is no surprise the Glasgow giants have converged on the same name.
There is a problem. Ghedjemis is thought to prefer staying in Italy, ideally with a bigger club. For Celtic and Rangers, that turns this pursuit into an uphill sell – not just about wages or European football, but about convincing a player to swap the comfort of Serie A for the intensity of the Old Firm goldfish bowl.
If either club can twist his arm, it would be a statement signing. For now, the Italian pull remains strong.
Celtic fight to keep key men – and name their price
While they chase one winger, Celtic are fighting to keep two pillars of their current side.
Alistair Johnston has attracted serious interest from the Premier League, with Fulham ready to rival Everton in the race for the right-back. The Canada international has become a reliable, aggressive presence on Celtic’s flank, and his blend of defensive steel and attacking drive is exactly what English clubs crave.
Celtic know it. They also know their calendar. Former striker Chris Sutton has called it “strange” that Arne Engels would even consider dropping into the Championship with West Ham, and he has been equally blunt on Johnston: the full-back, he insists, simply cannot be sold before the Champions League play-off matches.
The logic is obvious. Lose Johnston now and Celtic weaken a settled back line on the eve of the club’s most lucrative fixtures of the season. The board will be tempted by Premier League money, but the timing could hardly be worse.
Higher up the pitch, Celtic have drawn a hard line on Engels. West Ham tested their resolve and were knocked back. The Scottish champions want £25m for the 22-year-old, who still has two years left on his deal.
That figure tells its own story. Engels is not on the market unless someone pays full freight. Celtic are signalling that they see him as a core piece, not a quick profit.
Sutton has questioned why a player of his quality would look at West Ham in the Championship, rather than hold out for a top-flight move. Celtic, for their part, are content to sit tight unless a club meets their valuation.
Mika Baur’s Celtic push
Not every transfer call is defensive. One player is pushing hard from the outside to get in.
Mika Baur, the 22-year-old midfielder at Paderborn, has his heart set on a move to Celtic and wants the switch as soon as possible. That kind of determination matters. It gives Celtic leverage in negotiations and offers a clear sign of how the club is perceived in Germany: a platform for young talent, with European football and a global spotlight.
If the deal can be thrashed out quickly, Baur would arrive into a midfield already under the microscope because of Engels’ future. The balance between keeping stars and refreshing the squad is delicate. Celtic are trying to do both at once.
Rangers plan rebuild – but exits must come first
Across the city, Rangers are braced for a different kind of surgery.
The Ibrox club are preparing to strengthen their squad with up to four further signings. That is a significant number at this stage of the window and underlines the scale of the rebuild being plotted.
There is a catch. A raft of departures is likely to be sanctioned first, and that includes the potential sale of prize asset Nico Raskin.
Raskin’s name on the exit list will make Rangers fans wince. The Belgian midfielder has often been seen as one of the key pieces in the club’s next cycle. Cashing in on him would free funds and wages for reinforcements, but it also risks ripping out a central part of the team’s identity.
This is the trade-off. To reshape the squad with multiple signings, Rangers may need to sacrifice quality now for depth and balance later. The margin for error in those incoming deals is tiny.
Visa snag for Olwethu Makhanya
Even the new arrivals are not straightforward.
Fresh signing Olwethu Makhanya could miss the Europa League tie against Jagiellonia Bialystok because of a visa issue. For a club trying to build momentum in Europe, that is an unwelcome complication.
Makhanya was brought in to add power and potential, but administrative delays may leave him watching from afar as his new teammates fight for progression. For Rangers’ coaching staff, it is another puzzle: adjust plans again, or trust the existing options to get the job done.
A city on edge as the window tightens
So the picture is clear but far from settled. Celtic are trying to fend off English interest, hold firm on valuations and close a deal for a German midfielder who is desperate to wear green and white. Rangers are aiming for up to four new faces, even if it means selling one of their most valuable players, while a visa issue threatens to derail early plans for a new signing.
On top of it all, both clubs are locked in a tug-of-war for a winger who might prefer to stay exactly where he is, in Italy.
The season has not started, yet the first battle lines of the campaign are already being drawn in boardrooms and agents’ offices. When the window closes, which side of Glasgow will have played this game better?
