Celtic Transfers: Duran Deal Nears as Carter‑Vickers Returns
Martin O’Neill insists Celtic’s summer will not drift by in silence. The manager expects the club’s transfer window to burst into life, with Camilo Duran set to become the first new arrival of the champions’ title defence.
The 24-year-old forward has completed his medical and is poised to join from Qarabag for a fee in the region of £6m after an impressive 2025-26 campaign, highlighted by five Champions League goals. For a support growing edgy about the lack of movement, Duran represents the first concrete sign that the squad rebuild is finally moving from theory to reality.
“We have a number of players that we're looking at,” O’Neill said. “We've had a number of offers in for players as well too at the same time. And I'm hoping in the not-too-distant future, and I mean maybe in the next couple of weeks, that we will have some really decent players at the football club to add to the very decent players we have at the football club.”
The words are deliberate. The clock is not. Celtic open their Scottish Premiership title defence at home to Dundee on August 3, and the Champions League qualifiers loom behind that like a financial and sporting fault line. The squad that dragged itself over the line last season cannot simply be rolled out again and asked to do more.
O’Neill has at least secured one piece of continuity in midfield. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who arrived on a short-term deal in January, has agreed a new one-year contract. His experience, European nous and versatility give Celtic a stabilising presence in the middle of the park at a time when other key names may be heading for the exit.
But patience has its limits. Supporters have watched the weeks tick by with little in the way of fresh faces, and the noise outside the club reflects that tension.
Sutton sounds the alarm
Chris Sutton, never one to varnish his views on his former club, believes the scale of the job is being underestimated. For him, this is not a light refresh. It is a rebuild.
“Martin worked wonders last season. I didn't see Celtic winning the title from the position which he was put in on a couple of occasions,” Sutton told Sky Sports News. “I mean, the run towards the end of the season was extraordinary but I still think you can't get away from the fact there needs to be a lot of change at Celtic in terms of recruitment.”
The warning is stark. Celtic, he argues, may need to spend more than £50m if they are to keep their grip on the Premiership and stand up to Champions League scrutiny.
“They've got the Champions League qualifier which is really important and, however exciting it was for Celtic fans to end up getting over the line last season, you can't get away from the fact that Celtic struggled at times throughout the season. Martin will be looking to, I'm sure, bring players in.
“It'll be interesting to see who goes out from Celtic. It looks like Reo Hatate will go, possibly Daizen Maeda, Arne Engels but they're big players for the team. Who are Celtic going to replace those type of players with? Celtic are possibly going to have to spend up to or more than £50m really because the squad does need a rebuild.”
That is the fault line O’Neill must manage: the need to evolve a title-winning side while potentially losing some of its most influential figures. Duran’s imminent arrival is a start, not a solution.
Carter‑Vickers back on the pitch
If the transfer market still feels theoretical, one major boost is already tangible. Cameron Carter-Vickers pulled on a Celtic shirt again in the 1-1 draw with Shelbourne, playing the first half in his first appearance since October after rupturing his Achilles.
Both sides scored late penalties in the friendly, but the real story for Celtic lay in the American defender’s movement, his timing, his simple presence at the heart of the back line. For months he has been a name on an injury bulletin. Now he is back on the grass.
“At first, I just thought I had a bit of cramp in my calf,” the United States international said, recalling the moment he was injured in a Europa League win over Sturm Graz. “Pretty soon after that, when the physios saw it, they thought it was a rupture in the Achilles, which it turned out to be. Obviously at that point, you know it's going to be a long-term injury.”
The road back was slow, methodical, and often mundane.
“For me, it was just about understanding that's the situation you're in and just working towards getting back in the best shape and the best way possible. It was just about not getting too far ahead of yourself and kind of chasing small gains and being happy with small gains. I was in a cast for three weeks then a boot for eight.
“You can't really move your foot in any type of direction at first so right at the beginning of the rehab, it was about when I did get a bit of movement back in my foot, it was about taking that as a win and being positive about it and then after that you're chasing the next thing and the next thing.”
Those “small gains” now translate into a towering presence returning to Celtic’s defence. In a summer of uncertainty, Carter‑Vickers is a reminder of what the club already has: a proven, authoritative centre-back whose absence was felt every time the back line creaked last season.
Opening night and the stakes ahead
Celtic’s title defence begins under the lights. Dundee visit on Monday August 3, a 7.30pm kick-off that closes a landmark opening Premiership weekend in which all six top-flight fixtures will be shown live on Sky Sports.
By then, the picture around O’Neill’s squad will be clearer. Duran should be in the building. Oxlade-Chamberlain will be bedded in for a full campaign. Carter‑Vickers, fitness permitting, will be ready to anchor the defence again.
The bigger question hangs over the rest of the dressing room. If Hatate, Maeda and Engels do depart, Celtic will not just be replacing players. They will be replacing pillars. Sutton’s £50m estimate is not a flourish; it is a measure of the scale of the job.
O’Neill insists the work is under way. Offers are in. Targets are identified. The manager wants “really decent players” to add to a title-winning core.
Now comes the hard part: turning intent into signings, and signings into a squad capable of surviving a domestic chase and walking into Europe without flinching.
