Celtic ready to submit bid to sign £3.5m star

Celtic and Martin O’Neill need to be in the market to sign a right-footed central defender before the summer transfer window closes in September.

Cameron Carter-Vickers only played seven matches in the Scottish Premiership last season, and his last competitive appearance for the club was in October 2025, due to injury.

The USA international’s injury and the lack of senior right-footed options meant that the Hoops often had to deploy two left-footed centre-backs in Auston Trusty and Liam Scales.

Having two left-footed players in a centre-back pairing led to too many matches where ball progression from defence was slow and laboured, as Trusty was not comfortable opening out and playing on his right foot.

That is why the Scottish giants must be looking for their next Virgil van Dijk, arguably one of the best right-footed players to ever play for the club, given that he has gone on to win two Premier League titles and the Champions League with Liverpool.

Celtic set to submit new offer for central defender

Alongside being a top defender, the Netherlands international also had an eye for goal. He scored 15 goals in 115 matches in all competitions before his move to Southampton in 2015.

Trusty and Scales did not score a single Premiership goal between them in the 2025/26 campaign, which suggests that O’Neill lacks a goal threat in the centre-back position.

That may be why the Scottish giants are now reportedly pursuing a player who could arrive at Parkhead as their next version of van Dijk next season.

According to Football Insider, Celtic are interested in a deal to sign Sandefjord central defender Zinedin Smajlovic in the summer transfer window.

The report claims that the Hoops have already had a £3.5m offer turned down for the 22-year-old star, but they are expected to submit a new bid of more than £3.5m for his services in the coming days.

It adds that the two clubs are in ongoing talks to reach an agreement for the Swedish centre-back, and that they are hoping to strike a deal for him to bolster O’Neill’s squad.

Olympiacos, Hull City, Lyon, and Toulouse are also said to be eyeing up Smajlovic, though, which may mean that the Hoops will have to move quickly if they want to bring him to Glasgow.

How Zinedin Smajlovic can be Celtic’s next Virgil van Dijk

Smajlovic may not go on to become a Ballon d’Or contender who wins several Premier League and Champions League trophies in his career, but he could be Celtic’s next version of van Dijk.

Like the Dutchman, the Hoops target is a towering central defender, standing at 6 foot 3, who can dominate opposition players in physical duels due to his frame and physicality.

The data is not available for his time at Celtic, unfortunately, but van Dijk has won roughly 65% of his overall duels in his Premier League career with Southampton and Liverpool.

Smajlovic has won 61% of his duels in the Eliteserien so far this year for Sandefjord and won 62% of his overall battles in the division in the 2025 campaign, which speaks to how dominant he is as an out-and-out defender.

Like Van Dijk, he uses his height and physical prowess to consistently dominate opposition attackers to win the ball back for his team, whilst protecting his own goal.

Another way in which Smajlovic could be like the new van Dijk for Celtic is with his ability to score goals from a centre-back position, as the Dutchman scored 15 times during his spell at Parkhead.

The Sweden U21 international has scored nine goals in 67 matches in his senior career to date, which works out at roughly five goals per 38 games played.

His goalscoring record suggests that he could be a van Dijk-esque goalscoring talent from centre-back for Celtic, and certainly an upgrade on Trusty and Scales after they both failed to score a single goal in the Premiership last season.

Therefore, the 22-year-old star could end up being Celtic’s new version of the Dutchman as another right-footed defender who is dominant in duels and carries a threat in the opposition’s box, whilst being young enough to have development left to go through.