Celtic are officially on the clock. With the summer transfer window slamming shut on September 1st — just one month from today — the club face a stark reality: the squad is not ready.
Brendan Rodgers will lead Celtic into a make-or-break period in August with a team still light in key areas and burdened by players he doesn’t want. The manager is currently having to keep hold of fringe players deemed surplus to requirements simply because there’s nobody else to take their place. It’s an untenable situation at a club preparing for a Champions League playoff and the start of a domestic title defence.
The clearest example of the chaos? Marco Tilio.
The Australian winger has a move to Rapid Vienna in the works, but the deal is currently on ice. Celtic can’t let him go because they haven’t yet secured a first-team winger to take his place. It’s a damning indictment of how unprepared the club have been this summer. Tilio is, in essence, being held hostage at Lennoxtown — not for his ability, but because of the club’s lack of options.
Rodgers will be desperate to avoid going into massive fixtures with a depleted squad. Champions League playoff games await later this month, and right now, Celtic look worryingly short of the depth required to compete on multiple fronts. Even if new signings were to arrive this week, they’d likely be weeks away from full sharpness.
It’s a scenario that should never have unfolded. The board have known for months that major upgrades were required in key areas. Yet here we are — August 1st — with glaring holes and a squad still in flux.
The deadline now looms large. Thirty days to reshape the team. Thirty days to back the manager. Thirty days to avoid repeating the mistakes of last summer, where last-minute panic buys and short-term loans became the story.
This window was billed as the one to show ambition. To support Rodgers, to build a squad that could compete, not just participate. Instead, we’re watching time run down as Celtic stumble into another critical month with uncertainty hanging over key positions.
Rodgers may yet get the players he needs. But the delay has already come at a cost. And if the club get it wrong again, the consequences — both financially and on the pitch — could be felt all season.
