Celtic could sign the new Carter-Vickers in £2.5m star

Martin O’Neill‘s position confirmed? Tick. Coaching staff secured? Tick. Transfers already lined up? No, it’s never that simple at Celtic, is it?

June is almost over, and pre-season has begun, yet there has been no sense of any concrete deals taking place at Parkhead, even with a drastic overhaul required at Parkhead.

O’Neill and co will at least be able to welcome back a string of key stars from injury sooner rather than later, with the Hoops securing a domestic double despite having been without Jota, Alistair Johnston and Cameron Carter-Vickers for much of, if not all of, the campaign last time out.

The loss of Carter-Vickers back in October felt particularly damaging, the 28-year-old not exactly replaced by two forgettable loan signings, in the form of Jahmai Simpson-Pusey and Benjamin Arthur.

It was, on the whole, down to Liam Scales and Auston Trusty to hold the fort, but that doesn’t appear to be a stable long-term pairing at Parkhead.

Why centre-back must be a priority for Celtic this summer

Losing arguably the “best defender in Scotland“, as hailed by former boss Ange Postecoglou, was certainly a factor in Celtic’s mid-season slump, with Carter-Vickers a class above so many of the defenders to have come in and out of Paradise in recent years.

From Yuki Kobayashi to Nat Phillips to Gustav Lagerbielke to Maik Nawrocki, the Glasgow giants have burned through centre-back signings with little success, enduring so much upheaval after the prior success of the Carl Starfelt and Carter-Vickers pairing.

Nawrocki, following a solid season on loan at Hannover, could come into contention again, although the expectation is that he will return to Germany, having never really had a look-in at Celtic thus far.

High-profile errors for young Dane Murray against both Hearts and Rangers have raised doubts over his first-team standing, while fellow academy graduate, Stephen Welsh, finally secured a permanent exit after joining Swansea City.

That leaves the returning Carter-Vickers, as well as Trusty and Scales, as the only true senior options, the latter pair playing their part in shipping 41 Premiership goals last term, 15 more than the year prior.

Wilfried Nancy may well have something to do about that, although Scales and Trusty look so uncomfortable in a high-line, memorably cut open in the last-gasp 3-2 win over Kilmarnock earlier this year.

They helped to get the job done in the end, yet reinforcements are needed as a matter of urgency if O’Neill is to maintain this momentum heading into 2026/27.

Celtic could revive interest in EFL Championship star

Centre-back additions do appear to be on the agenda for the Parkhead hierarchy, with some quarters revealing that they are ready to submit a bid for Sandefjord star, Zinedin Smajlovic.

The towering Swede is also the subject of a raft of interest from elsewhere, however, while there is conflicting reporting over whether Celtic have actually made a bid or not, suggesting this could be something of a non-starter.

Previously, reports last month indicated that West Bromwich Albion’s George Campbell was actually open to moving to Glasgow, with the £2.5m-rated talent having emerged on the club’s radar.

Champions League qualification could well hold sway in tempting the 25-year-old to make the switch, even with Bundesliga and Championship sides queuing up for his signature.

This might well appear something of a repeat of the Carter-Vickers capture of five years ago, the ex-Tottenham Hotspur man having arrived at Celtic Park after spending much of his time out on loan in the EFL prior to that.

Campbell is another United States international who could be ready to test himself in the pressurised Celtic environment, the 6 foot 2 ace previously plying his trade in MLS before joining the Baggies last year.

Like Carter-Vickers, he’s another towering, powerhouse of a defender who has a keen eye for goal, having scored four times and registered two assists in 39 Championship games last term.

For comparison, the aforementioned Smajlovic scored and assisted just four goals during the 2025 Eliteserien campaign.

Equally too, Campbell does appear to be a composed figure in possession, with his average pass accuracy rate of 85% again seeing him better that man Smajlovic (84%).

It’s also worth noting the differing level that the pair have played at of late, with the EFL Championship deemed to be the seventh-best league in the world, according to Global Football Rankings.

By contrast, the Eliteserien – the top tier of Norwegian football – is only in 21st in the list, with Smajlovic yet to really prove himself at a higher level in European football.

Encouragingly for those of a Celtic persuasion too, Campbell admitted last year that he regularly looks to the likes of Virgil van Dijk for inspiration, the Dutchman having, of course, been such a hit himself in Glasgow.

Celtic have already reaped the rewards of signing his national team colleague, Carter-Vickers, from south of the border, with now potentially the time to repeat the trick.