£10m Celtic signing would easily eclipse the Hassan deal

There won’t be anyone letting the Celtic board off the hook, and rightly so, but after a desperately slow start to the window, it’s all starting to look a little more rosy at Parkhead.

The knives were out following the debacle surrounding both Kelechi Iheanacho and Marcelo Saracchi, with it taking until the final few days of July for the Hoops to wrap up a deal for January target, Kasper Hogh, following the earlier capture of Camilo Duran.

Quality over quantity, as Martin O’Neill stressed, is a wise approach, and despite the ongoing need for a major overhaul in the playing squad, impressive improvements are being made slowly but surely.

Rivals Rangers have taken the opposite approach – look how that’s going – with those at Ibrox likely to bite their hand off for a new-look Celtic front three of Duran, Hogh and the incoming Haissem Hassan.

Why Hassan’s signing would be such a coup for Celtic

No new signing is going to replace Daizen Maeda, he’s a truly unique, one-of-a-kind forward, the like of which Celtic won’t see again.

The Japanese forward almost had to do it alone amid the woes of those around him at the tail end of last season, scoring seven times post-split to drag O’Neill’s men to the title.

Rather than directly filling that void, the Hoops appear to have instead raised the overall level of the forward line, with Hassan potentially the final piece of the jigsaw.

Against Dundee, while it didn’t quite stick for Hogh, the Dane showcased that he will generate plentiful chances through the middle, while the lively Duran replicated some of Maeda’s out-of-possession heroics.

As for Hassan, who is expected to arrive as a matter of when and not if, the Egyptian will be the real game-changer off the right, the player to progress play with his innate dribbling prowess.

That was evident at the World Cup in the clash with Argentina, the 24-year-old notably embarking on a mesmerising run through a sea of defenders in the build-up to Zico’s controversially disallowed strike.

Back at club level too, Hassan was in sparkling form in LaLiga, even as Real Oviedo slipped to relegation, ranking in the top 1% of wingers in Europe’s big five leagues for both productive dribbles and progressive carries per 90.

He was also responsible for 18.7% of Oviedo’s total progression, having ranked in the top 1% there too, suggesting he can be the man to drag Celtic forward from the flanks.

An improvement is needed on his return of just three goal involvements, but he’s certainly a coup. Hopefully there’s more where that came from in Glasgow.

How Celtic could instantly eclipse Hassan signing this month

With Maeda out the door and the likes of Arne Engels and Alistair Johnston potentially set to follow at some stage, there is likely to be plenty of funds available at Parkhead – provided the board are willing to reinvest it, of course…

Roughly £17m has already been spent on Duran and Hogh, while Hassan’s capture is set to cost a total fee of around £9m, having had just a year left on his deal in Spain.

It might take an even bigger figure than that to secure another leading Celtic target in the form of Claudio Braga, with journalist Pete O’Rourke outlining that the Scottish champions are set to ramp up their interest in the 26-year-old.

REUTERS/Lee Smith

The Hoops are exploring a move for the Hearts star, as are a raft of other interested suitors, with Football FanCast sources indicating that he could fetch between £8m – £10m.

Braga won’t come cheap, but what a coup it would be to pluck the 2025/26 Premiership Player of the Year from Tynecastle, with the forward boasting the benefit over Hassan and co of having already flourished in Scottish football.

Signed from Norwegian outfit Aalesunds last summer, the relatively unknown talent had been the top scorer at the Scandinavian side across the previous three seasons, albeit while only operating in the second tier.

It was a gamble then for the Jambos, but one that paid off handsomely, as Braga emerged as the real breakout star of the season, even ahead of the likes of Benjamin Nygren and Elijah Just.

In all, he scored and assisted 17 goals in the Premiership last time out, well ahead of Hassan’s record, for comparison, as he formed part of a fearsome forward line alongside Lawrence Shankland.

A dynamic and direct attacker who can operate all across the frontline, Braga appears at his best as almost something of a second striker, boasting an all-round quality to his game as he also averaged 1.3 key passes and one successful dribble per game.

Quite where he’d fit into O’Neill’s side is another matter, but this would mark a real statement of intent for the champions, not least ahead of Champions League qualification.

It’s not been a smooth start to the campaign over in Edinburgh, and whether they will cash in on their prized possession remains to be seen. If they do, it would surely mark an even bigger coup than signing Hassan, not least as it would directly weaken a potential title rival.