The next Callum McGregor could be heading to Celtic

Celtic are set to make their latest addition of the summer transfer window with the signing of Haissem Hassan from Real Oviedo in the coming days.

The Hoops are poised to bring the Egypt international to Parkhead in a deal worth up to £9m to bolster Martin O’Neill‘s options at the top end of the pitch.

It remains to be seen if any deal will be done in time for the 24-year-old talent to feature in the club’s clash with Kilmarnock in the Scottish Premiership on Sunday.

The Hoops beat Dundee 1-0 in their opening match at Parkhead on Monday night, thanks to a goal from Benjamin Nygren, and the captain, Callum McGregor, ran the show as expected in the middle of the park.

Analysing Callum McGregor’s performance against Dundee

The former Scotland international turned 33 this summer and is still one of O’Neill’s most important players because of the way that he can dictate games in the number six role.

McGregor did not score or assist the winning goal, as Kieran Tierney crossed for Nygren, but he played the full 90 minutes and was at his metronomic best for the Scottish giants.

The Hoops captain is the perfect number six for the club because he has the in-possession qualities to control games, whilst he is also reliable off the ball and can sit in front of the backline to win duels.

In the 2025/26 campaign, McGregor won 51% of his ground duels and 53% of his aerial battles in the Premiership, to go along with a pass accuracy of 93% in the middle of the park.

Whilst the skipper is still delivering quality performances, as evidenced by his showing against Dundee, the club do need to start looking to the future and what their midfield could look like when his powers start to wane.

The Premiership champions could already find their next version of McGregor if they are able to get a deal done for one of their current targets.

CeltsAreHere reports that Celtic are pursuing a move to sign Torino central midfielder Gvidas Gineitis before the end of the summer transfer window.

The outlet claims that the Hoops have already made contact to open talks with the player and his representatives, but they are yet to open talks with the Serie A club over a transfer fee for his services.

It adds that Torino are open to having discussions with the Scottish side and that they would be willing to part ways with the Lithuania international for a fee of around £9m.

After splashing out £9m on Hassan, the Hoops could pay another significant transfer fee to bring the 22-year-old talent to Parkhead to be their long-term successor to McGregor in the number six role.

The Lithuanian star is a holding midfielder who has proven that he can provide defensive security and physicality whilst playing in one of Europe’s major leagues in Italy.

In fact, his out of possession numbers last season were incredibly similar to McGregor’s in the Premiership, which suggests that he would be the perfect successor to the captain from a defensive perspective.

Gineitis has also shown potential on the ball at international level with Lithuania. He scored three goals and provided one assist in eight World Cup qualifiers for his country, but it was not enough to help them qualify for the 2026 World Cup.

The 21-year-old midfielder has not had the experience of dictating a match, though, because he played for 12th-placed Torino in the Serie A last term and plays for a country that is not among the favourites for any competitions.

That means that the passing side of his game will need to adapt to being in a dominant Celtic team if he wants to be as effective as McGregor is in midfield for the Hoops.

His out of possession numbers and the quality that he can offer in the final third show that the £9m-rated star already has plenty of the attributes that make McGregor so effective.

Therefore, the club should be pushing to get a deal done for the Lithuania international in the coming weeks so that they have their long-term successor to McGregor already in the building.