8 hours ago
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Celtic failed to land the final name they craved on deadline day — with the club finally admitting defeat in their pursuit of Torino midfielder Gvidas Gineitis.
The Parkhead club signed six players in a frantic 24 hours before facing Aberdeen on Wednesday evening, adding to the four they recruited earlier in the summer.
However, they were left frustrated in their efforts to land long-term target Gineitis, who is remaining in Serie A despite lengthy negotiations.
It’s believed Celtic offered £8million with the fee potentially rising to £10m — but the Turin outfit demanded £10m up front for the Lithuanian international.
The window has still seen the number of new arrivals hit double figures, though.
Former England goalkeeper Sam Johnstone joined on a season-long loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers, with Chelsea’s teenage striker Shim Mheuka arriving in a similar arrangement.
Celtic missed out on one of their chief targets, Gvidas Gineitis of Torino
Martin O'Neill's side did reinforce the goalkeeping position, with Sam Johnstone joining
Left-back Landon Emenalo also arrived from Stamford Bridge for the season, with Swiss right-back Jordan Lotomba coming in from Feyenoord until the summer.
Celtic also confirmed a four-year deal for £3.5m signing Joel van den Berg from PSV Eindhoven, while Danish midfielder Oliver Sorensen had also agreed a one-year loan from Parma earlier in the week.
Camilo Duran, Kasper Hogh, Haissem Hassan and Mika Baur were all snapped up for a combined £30m earlier in the summer.
Celtic have also moved a number of players on with Reo Hatate heading to Burnley and Johnny Kenny signing for Preston. Those moves followed the departures of Arne Engels to West Ham and Daizen Maeda to Ipswich.
Asked if he was confident that the squad would be strong enough to compete on all fronts at the close of business, O’Neill said: ‘One has to be confident, one has to be.’
Meanwhile, it’s been announced that Emenalo, Mheuka and Van den Berg won’t be a part of Celtic’s squad for the Europa League.
The club had to submit 25 names to UEFA for the group stages by Wednesday — including seven ‘home trained players’.
And while Duran, Baur, Hassan and Hogh are joined by Sorensen, Lotomba and Johnstone in the squad, three of the new boys have missed out.
‘There are obviously some very tough decisions to be made in putting this squad together for the Europa League,’ O’Neill explained.
‘It’s a difficult list and, for me, the most important thing is our domestic football.
‘Of course, we’re disappointed about the Champions League but the Europa League is still very strong, and we want to try and do as well as we possibly can in that.
‘The players we have signed, we want them to make a mark initially in the domestic scene, which is the most important thing for us at this stage.
‘Then, we’ve got a chance to perhaps change things in February if we’re still in contention.’
Danish midifelder Oliver Sorensen also joined Celtic in a busy end to the transfer window
Goalkeeper Johnstone has insisted he has his sights set on taking the No 1 jersey away from Viljami Sinisalo as he looks to become the latest English success story between the sticks after Fraser Forster and Joe Hart.
The 33-year-old was on the bench for the 3-0 win over Aberdeen but is looking for game time during his spell in Scotland.
He said: ‘That’s the plan for me. But again, we’re here to compete and it’s not a given — it’s down to the manager to choose who plays.
‘That’s football, the goalies work close together and we support each other no matter what.
‘To come to a huge club like this is a privilege and I didn’t have to think twice.’
