Celtic head coach Brendan Rodgers was a busy man during the summer transfer window as he had to oversee a number of changes to his playing squad.
There was plenty of movement in and out of Parkhead before the deadline in August, with the most notable departure being Matt O’Riley’s move to Premier League side Brighton & Hove Albion.
Mikey Johnston, Gustaf Lagerbielke, and Tomoki Iwata were among the other players to move on from Glasgow, either permanently or on loan, to make way for a raft of new signings.
The board illustrated their immense faith in Rodgers by smashing the club’s transfer record to sign Belgium international Arne Engels from Augsburg for a reported fee of £11m.
They also brought in Adam Idah, Paulo Bernardo, Alex Valle, Luke McCowan, and Auston Trusty to bolster the manager’s options across the park before the end of the summer transfer window.
Engels, Bernardo, and McCowan have all come in to compete for a starting spot in the middle of the park and the Hoops will be hoping to have more luck in that position than they did with the signing of Ismaila Soro back at the start of 2020.
How much Celtic paid for Ismaila Soro
It was reported that the Scottish giants splashed out a fee of around £2m to sign the central midfielder from Israeli side Bnei Yehuda ahead of the second half of the 2019/20 campaign.
Neil Lennon brought him to Parkhead on a contract till the summer of 2024 and it was claimed, at the time, that he was a tough-tackling midfielder who could handle the ball in tight spaces.
It was also revealed that the club’s close links with the player’s agent – Dudu Dahan – helped them to secure a deal for the Ivorian youngster.
The youngster only made one appearance – in the SFA Cup – during the second half of that season before he played 19 times in the Scottish Premiership during the 2020/21 campaign.
Appearances
19
Goals
1
Assists
1
Big chances created
0
Duel success rate
52%
As you can see in the table above, Soro was an average performer in the middle of the park for the Hoops in those 19 outings, as he was only directly involved in two goals and barely won the majority of his physical duels.
His performances were not good enough to convince Ange Postecoglou, who arrived in the summer of 2021, to make him a regular in his side, with the midfielder playing eight games and starting once in the Premiership under the Australian boss.
Celtic then sent Soro out on loan to Portuguese side Arouca for the 2022/23 campaign before allowing him to leave on a free transfer, a year before his contract was due to expire, in 2023.
One that got away
The transfers that nearly happened but never did. This article is part of Football FanCast's One That Got Away series.
Things could have been so different for the Scottish giants, however, if they had landed one of their central midfield targets from the 2019 summer transfer window – Scott McTominay.
Celtic's interest in Scott McTominay
Ahead of the 2019/20 season, a transfer document detailing a number of targets for the Hoops was leaked and the Scotland international was one of the names on the list.
Alongside the likes of Neal Maupay, Reece James, and Fikayo Tomori, Celtic were interested in potentially swooping to sign the central midfielder from Manchester United to bolster Lennon’s squad.
The Scottish giant had already made his breakthrough at first-team level for the Red Devils but only featured in 16 of their 38 Premier League games during the 2018/19 campaign.
His lack of regular minutes in the top-flight for the English giants may have led Celtic to believe that they had a chance to bring him to Parkhead in the summer of 2019, although it remains unknown as to whether they were keen on landing him permanently or on loan.
Ultimately, the Hoops did not secure a deal for the central midfielder and ended that summer transfer window without signing any senior players in that position.
They eventually swooped to fill that role five months later, in the January window, with the addition of Soro, but McTominay’s rise since 2019 suggests that he was one that got away from the Scottish giants.
Scott McTominay's current market value
At the time of writing (09/10/2024), Transfermarkt has the central midfielder’s current market value at a whopping €32m (£28m), following on from his move to Italian side Napoli in the recent summer transfer window.
After Celtic failed to secure his services, McTominay went on to score four goals in 27 Premier League matches during the 2019/20 campaign and established himself as a regular with the English outfit over the subsequent years.
The Scottish ace went on to rack up 255 appearances for United in all competitions, scoring 29 goals and providing eight assists, before his departure earlier this year.
This suggests that, from the player’s perspective, he was right to avoid a move away from Old Trafford in the summer of 2019 as he was able to play the best part of 300 games for his boyhood club.
McTominay, who has scored nine goals in 52 games for Scotland, then completed a permanent move to Napoli to play under Antonio Conte this summer and has enjoyed a strong start to the season.
Appearances
4
Goals
1
Assists
1
Pass accuracy
83%
Tackles + interceptions per game
2.3
As you can see in the table above, the 27-year-old star has already produced two goals and assists in four Serie A appearances for the Italian giants.
McTominay, who was hailed as a “real threat” in the air by journalist Josh Bunting, proved himself at the top level in England by playing 255 games for United and now appears to be on his way to proving his quality in Italy.
Therefore, the Scottish gem was one that got away for Celtic as they missed out on a £27m star in the making, and went on to land Soro – who was a flop in Glasgow – instead.
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