£7m star looks like he “will join Celtic”

It’s difficult to make head nor tail of Celtic‘s recruitment of recent years, with the hit rate having dropped dramatically since Ange Postecoglou‘s exit in 2023.

Under the Aussie, it felt like almost every incoming proved fruitful, the new Al Nassr boss overseeing the arrivals of the likes of Kyogo Furuhashi, Daizen Maeda, Reo Hatate and Matt O’Riley, among many others.

In the three years since, success stories can almost be counted on one hand, however, with Nicolas Kuhn’s £16.5m sale to Como marking a rare recent example of astute business, considering the German had cost just £3m only 18 months earlier.

The Scottish champions need more where that came from, and fast, if next season is to be a triumphant one for Martin O’Neill. Will Mika Baur prove to be the club’s next transfer coup?

What Celtic can expect from Mika Baur

You can’t ever count your chickens with this Celtic hierarchy, although the indication is that the aforementioned Baur will sign on a £4m deal sooner rather than later, with the 22-year-old pushing to make the move to Glasgow.

The young German has seemingly come from nowhere to emerge as a leading target for the Premiership giants, fresh from helping to steer Paderborn back into the Bundesliga.

In Bundesliga.2 last season, the versatile playmaker scored and assisted nine goals, while also averaging 1.5 key passes per game, having flitted between a midfield and left-wing role.

Celtic are believed to view him as a number six or a number eight, with there a hope that he can prove to be the long-awaited understudy to Callum McGregor at the base of the midfield.

He’s creative and progressive, yet with an eye for goal too, with Baur also offering the added bonus of his work out of possession, having averaged 2.4 tackles and interceptions per game, well ahead of Arne Engels’ own average, for instance.

Not only could he be a successor to the skipper, but Baur might also represent a perfect replacement for Engels, amid rampant interest in the 22-year-old Belgian.

For a reported fee of around £4m, the Germany U21 international could certainly prove a real bargain, even if Celtic do still have other priorities to sort ahead of next season.

Why £7m target now looks like he “will join Celtic”

Considering the uncertainty surrounding the futures of both Engels and Hatate, the Hoops no doubt need to address the midfield unit, with O’Neill’s side lacking any sense of energy and athleticism as McGregor, Luke McCowan and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain lined up together in the recent friendly clash with Middlesbrough.

That said, amid Daizen Maeda’s imminent move to Ipswich Town, the key issue still lies at centre-forward, with Kyogo yet to be properly replaced 18 months after leaving.

Kelechi Iheanacho has also opted to move to Turkey, while Shin Yamada has been shipped out on a second loan in succession, leaving Callum Osmand and Johnny Kenny as O’Neill’s sole striking options at present.

On a positive note, that dynamic could well be set to change before too long, with Sky Sports Italia reporting that it looks like Bodo/Glimt’s Kasper Hogh “will join Celtic” this summer.

The 25-year-old – who is likely to fetch around £7m – was only named on the bench in Bodo’s win over HamKam on Wednesday, further heightening the speculation around his future.

As already stated, Baur, at 22, looks like a really exciting prospect, although one concern would be his lack of experience at the top level, having been plying his trade in Germany’s third tier as recently as 2024/25.

In Hogh’s case, the Dane has been a consistently prolific force over a number of seasons now in Norway’s top-flight, as well as proving vital in last season’s stellar Champions League run.

He’s already scored and assisted 11 goals in 12 Eliteserien games in 2026, having ended the 2025 campaign with 22 goal involvements in 28 outings in the competition.

Hogh also scored 17 league goals across 2023 and 2024 combined, alongside registering a further two assists, ensuring he would be arriving in Glasgow with real momentum behind him.

It is the £7m-rated star’s European form that has particularly caught the eye, however, matching Camilo Duran’s tally of five Champions League goals last term, a record that included a brace in a shock 3-1 win over Manchester City.

He’s just a pure goalscorer, plain and simple, having hit 54 in 103 games for his current side, the type of record Celtic would bite your hand off for considering their recent striking woes.

Let’s face it, they’ve burned through number nines, all of whom arrived with question marks around them. There was the goal-shy Yamada, the injury-hit Iheanacho, the unproven Osmand and the profligate Kenny.

Throw into the mix the January pairing of Tomas Cvancara and Junior Adamu – two men who’d scored just 15 goals combined for Freiburg and Borussia Monchengladbach, respectively, since 2023 – and Celtic have seemingly got what they paid for. Skimp on strikers and the results are there to see.

Yes, splashing out £7m on Hogh isn’t without its risks, but this could be the statement signing O’Neill is desperately in need of, one that would swiftly eclipse the surprise capture of young Baur.