Celtic’s lack of transfer activity so far this summer should not be viewed as a cause for alarm, according to Peter Grant, who believes the market has been slowed by the ripple effects of this summer’s World Cup.
With pre-season already in full swing and the Premiership opener against Dundee on August 3 fast approaching, attention is also turning towards a pivotal Champions League play-off later next month.
Despite the quiet start to recruitment, Grant is convinced Martin O’Neill would have secured assurances from Dermot Desmond before agreeing to return to the club.
Speaking to the Sunday Post via TCW, Grant believes O’Neill would have ensured there was a clear plan to strengthen the squad.
“Martin is a wily old fox. He has been around the block,” he said.
“He will know more than anyone that Celtic got away with it last season. It was a remarkable campaign and what he achieved to guide the team to a double was remarkable. But you don’t get away with it twice.
“He will know that this is a squad that needs to be strengthened, and he will have had that conversation before accepting the job. He isn’t a young, relatively inexperienced manager coming in with no knowledge of how it works between the boardroom and the dressing room.
“He will have had a few guarantees about what he was getting in terms of being able to go and mould this squad into the kind of team he wants. He will be more than aware of where the deficiencies were last season.”
Grant also outlined where he feels Celtic’s recruitment priorities lie, arguing that several key additions are needed before the transfer window closes.
“They definitely need two strikers,” he added. “I don’t think they should ever have let Adam Idah go.
“Daizen [Maeda] could have gone last year, and it would have made sense to do that and have someone else come in alongside Idah.
“Now, they need at least a couple of centre-forwards and a centre-half. Cameron Carter-Vickers has had a few injury issues, and there was a softness about Celtic defensively last season that needs to be addressed.
“Another midfielder would be in the equation, too.”
Grant also suggested the transfer market has inevitably been delayed by the summer’s World Cup, with clubs and agents waiting for movement before deals begin to gather pace.
“A major tournament being on definitely has a knock-on effect to the window, every agent and manager will tell you that,” Grant said.
“The long and short of it is that there is a domino effect in terms of players and clubs when it comes to movement.”
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