Celtic's Transfer Move for World Cup Star Haissem Hassan

Celtic have finally made a move.

Sky Sports report that the club have lodged an official enquiry for Real Oviedo winger Haissem Hassan, the Egypt international who caught the eye at the 2026 World Cup in the United States. At 24, with one year left on his contract, he fits the familiar Parkhead profile: talent, upside, and a potential bargain if the numbers line up.

The interest is not new. Hassan has been linked with Celtic throughout the summer, his World Cup performances turning him from a scouting note into a headline name. Now, with the enquiry confirmed, the question is not whether Celtic rate him. It is whether the club can actually get a deal over the line in time to matter.

Because the clock is ticking loudly in Glasgow.

O’Neill waiting, board hesitating

Martin O’Neill has made no secret of his need for reinforcements. Celtic’s title win last season was dramatic, draining and, at times, chaotic. It also exposed the thinness of a squad that has been crying out for what the manager himself described as “major surgery”.

Two of the key figures in that comeback – Kelechi Iheanacho and Marcelo Saracchi – were supposed to be the foundations of the next phase. O’Neill wanted them kept. He asked chief executive Michael Nicholson and chief financial officer Chris McKay to secure their futures early, to give him a base to build from.

That did not happen.

Offers went in but were described as lowball. Negotiations stalled, then died. Both players moved away from “Paradise”, not because the manager did not believe in them, but because the hierarchy appeared unwilling to commit to deals that offered little in the way of resale value.

It left O’Neill exposed. Again.

Wage-bill first, ambition later

The handling of Iheanacho’s situation underlined the tension. Briefings emerged in the mainstream media painting his wage demands as excessive. Those claims were swiftly challenged by updates from Turkey, where the narrative around his expectations sounded far less dramatic.

The damage, though, was done in Glasgow. A player the manager trusted was gone, his departure framed not by football logic but by financial caution and spin.

Now the pattern is repeating.

Celtic’s stance remains clear: players must leave before new ones arrive. On a balance sheet, that makes sense. On a football pitch, with a Champions League play-off looming, it looks increasingly reckless.

Daizen Maeda, another tireless worker in Celtic’s front line, is now the subject of official talks between Ipswich Town and the club. If he goes, he joins Iheanacho and Saracchi on the list of attackers no longer available to O’Neill. Three major contributors out, with no comparable quality yet through the door.

And Hassan? Right now he is an enquiry, not an answer.

Champions League countdown, same old delays

The timing could hardly be more stark. The Champions League play-off is just around the corner. This is the point in the calendar when serious clubs tend to be close to complete, when managers fine-tune rather than scramble.

Celtic, again, are scrambling.

The squad has seen “barely any meaningful strengthening”, despite warnings from figures who know the club inside out. Former captain Paul Lambert has been among those to sound the alarm, insisting Celtic would not get away with another summer of drift.

They might be about to test that theory.

The fear among supporters is simple: that Celtic’s familiar transfer dithering will finally catch up with them in Europe and at home. Last season’s great escape cannot be the model. It was a warning.

Hassan interest highlights the bigger problem

The Hassan enquiry, confirmed by Scottish journalist Anthony Joseph, lays out the basic facts:

“Celtic have made an enquiry for Real Oviedo winger Haissem Hassan. The Hoops are keen to bring the Egypt international to Glasgow after an impressive display at the World Cup and they're exploring the conditions of a potential deal. Hassan, 24, has one-year left on his contract.”

On paper, it is exactly the kind of move a modern Celtic should make. A 24-year-old international, tested on the biggest stage, entering the final year of his deal. The sort of calculated risk that can lift a team and excite a support.

But context matters.

This is not the third or fourth addition to a refreshed squad. It is a potential first major step in a window that was supposed to reshape the team. The club’s caution over wages and resale value has already cost O’Neill two players he trusted. Maeda may yet be the third. Hassan, if he arrives at all, could be walking into a dressing room that has been stripped rather than strengthened.

Right now, for many around Celtic Park, the ambition has quietly shifted. Talk of “kicking on” has given way to something far more modest.

They would settle for maintenance.

And that is the real question this summer poses: is a club of Celtic’s size prepared to act like it on the market, or will another window of hesitation leave O’Neill and his players chasing from behind before a ball is even kicked in Europe?