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Finance expert: Celtic set for 'nightmare' summer window after boardroom development
Celtic are set for a “nightmare” summer as the collapse of the European transfer market will make it difficult to cash-in on player sales.
That is according to finance guru and Football Insider columnist Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively after Celtic announced the resignation of recruitment chief Nicky Hammond last week.
His departure is further proof that a top-to-bottom overhaul of the club is underway after Neil Lennon’s resignation in February and Peter Lawwell’s imminent retirement.
A rethink on the playing side of things is expected too as the club look to refresh their squad after a torrid campaign in 2020-21.
But Maguire explains that Celtic are operating in a “buyer’s market” and that it will be tough to fetch “top dollar” from player sales in the summer.
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He told Football Insider correspondent Adam Williams: “The challenge for Celtic is that the transfer market is going to be very subdued this summer.
“If they are asking for top dollar for a player, clubs will turn around and say: ‘But I can get a player from Lyon or Lille who’s just as good for X amount.’
“The French market is a nightmare from a selling club’s perspective. The Bundesliga TV deal has fallen by 10 per cent. There are wage cuts in Spain. Portugal, which is a selling country at the best of times, has had a very tough time under the pandemic. It’s very much a buyer’s market.
“That means if Celtic are looking to move players on, they’re not going to be getting huge returns for them on the back of a very modest season.”
Football Insider revealed in March that a deal to bring in Fergal Harkin as director of football is 90 per cent done.
In other news, Celtic 27-year-old tipped to snub Premier League move on one condition.