How Celtic could sign the SPFL’s “best player”

While Celtic‘s Premiership rivals have already recruited extensively this summer, the champions have been frustratingly quiet on that front, even with Martin O’Neill‘s position having been confirmed a month ago.

Until this week, the Glasgow side’s sole bit of business had been to extend Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s contract at Parkhead, the experienced Englishman set to stay on board amid uncertain futures for the likes of Reo Hatate, Arne Engels and Paulo Bernardo.

Keeping the 32-year-old around next season may well be something of a no-brainer, particularly if afforded the chance to properly get up to speed fitness-wise, although he wasn’t exactly a first-choice pick under O’Neill last term.

Indeed, the 35-cap England international didn’t feature at all in the final four Premiership games, having made just a solitary 12-minute outing post-split.

A useful squad addition he could still prove, although the Hoops need to go big if they are to truly reinforce the starting lineup. Well, £5.5m man Camilo Duran might well be just what they’re looking for.

How Duran compares to recent striker signings at Celtic

It looks all but certain that Duran will be the first signing of the summer at Parkhead, the 24-year-old set to join following an impressive spell at Qarabag.

That stint in Azerbaijan saw the Colombian score and assist 25 goals in just 45 games, having particularly caught the eye with five goals in just ten Champions League games in 2025/26.

He’s not prolific, having previously been deployed more as a winger than a centre-forward, but he’s a significant upgrade on those who have walked in the door in Glasgow in recent times, at least in terms of what he’s offered over the past 12 months.

Take Kelechi Iheanacho, for example, a man who had scored just five goals in all competitions in 2024/25. Or Tomas Cvancara, the towering Czech striker scoring just ten goals in total between the end of 2022/23 and his arrival at Celtic.

Fellow loan arrival, Junior Adamu, had scored just six goals in 18 months before his own January switch, while Shin Yamada ended the 2024/25 season with only six goals himself in all competitions.

Even £9.5m man Adam Idah hadn’t exactly flourished before his loan move, scoring just 17 senior goals for Norwich City in 116 games, with it perhaps no surprise that that raft of names have all come undone in Glasgow.

Duran, hopefully, will buck the trend, but O’Neill have even bigger fish to fry this summer?

Celtic could sign the Premiership’s “best player” after Duran

Last season’s domestic double can’t mask that this is a squad in need of serious surgery. A handful of signings won’t do – it requires an overhaul.

That’s even before considering that the likes of Daizen Maeda and Hatate might be on their way, with O’Neill’s ranks crying out for a fresh injection of quality this summer.

Duran might well offer just that, although the dream target still remains Motherwell’s Elijah Just, not least after the Kiwi’s stunning World Cup form.

Three goals across three group games for New Zealand has plunged the 26-year-old into household name territory, with the player himself admitting that he hopes his agent is ‘busy’ over the coming weeks.

Perhaps those heroics on the global stage have hampered Celtic’s hopes of striking a deal, but a big play might be enough to lure Just from Fir Park, following what has been a stellar rise over the last 12 months or so.

From the lower leagues of Denmark and Austria, Just has since become a breakout star in the Premiership, arguably the “best player in the league” for a spell last term, in the view of national team boss Darren Bazeley.

That status isn’t without merit, with the fleet-footed playmaker having been among the nominees for the PFA Scotland Player of the Year award, albeit while losing out to Hearts star Claudio Braga.

In all, he scored and assisted 14 goals in the top flight, while also creating 11 ‘big chances’ and boasting an impressive 1.3 successful dribbles per game.

Across his entire club career so far, Just has now scored 38 goals at senior level, a solid return for a number ten or playmaker. In Duran’s case, while 15 goals have come at Qarabag, he had only netted six times prior to that.

Neither man has necessarily delivered consistently over an extended period, with 2025/26 proving a real breakthrough, although it does appear to be Just who boasts the greater body of work.

With the added benefit of having already proven himself in the Premiership too, bringing the Motherwell man into the fold could represent an even bigger coup for O’Neill and co.