Celtic missed the opportunity to sign striker Mohamed Toure for £2.4 million, opting instead for a more expensive option. This decision highlights ongoing issues in their transfer strategy, particularly in securing quality forwards.
Key points
Celtic missed signing Mohamed Toure for £2.4 million
Celtic opted for Joel Mvuka instead
Transfer market failings are impacting team performance
Centre forward position has been neglected
Current campaign has been turbulent
Mohamed ToureJoel MvukaCeltic
Mohamed Toure – A £2.4m striker Celtic could easily have signed
Mohamed Toure – A £2.4m striker Celtic could easily have signed
Mohamed Toure is a player who could have easily been recruited. He was available for £2.4 million, yet we were willing to pay much more for Joel Mvuka…
Our much publicised failings in the transfer market are one of the leading causes for our current woes on the park, if not the leading cause altogether.
During the last few transfer windows we have failed to bring in any one of any real quality, especially when it comes to the centre forward position. It’s an area in the team that’s been severely neglected, and a major reason as to why we’ve had to endure such a turbulent campaign.
Last summer Celtic failed to bring in a centre forward capable of scoring goals as we missed out on names such as Kasper Dolberg, David Sterlec, and Mathias Kvistgaarden. Players who would have undoubtedly improved our powderpuff frontline.
In the end we reacted by bringing in free agent Kelechi Iheanacho, who despite doing his best, has had his campaign interrupted by injury, and clearly isn’t one hundred percent fit. His two goals at Hampden yesterday shows that the Nigerian striker has the quality, his problem is fitness related and if he can stay fit for the last half-dozen games he could end up as a
Celtic hero.
Alex Gogic of St Mirren battles with Tomas Cvancara of Celtic during the ScottishPremiership between Celtic and St. Mirren at Celtic Park on April 11, 2026. (Photo by WM Sport Media/Getty Images)
Q&A
Why didn't Celtic sign Mohamed Toure for £2.4 million?
Celtic chose to pursue a more expensive player, Joel Mvuka, despite Toure being available at a lower price.
What are the consequences of Celtic's transfer market failings?
The club's inability to secure quality players, especially forwards, has contributed significantly to their struggles on the pitch.
How has Celtic's transfer strategy impacted their current season?
Celtic's neglect in strengthening the centre forward position has led to a turbulent campaign and ongoing performance issues.
Who is Mohamed Toure and what is his market value?
Mohamed Toure is a striker who was available for £2.4 million, representing a potentially valuable addition to Celtic's squad.
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The January transfer window was the time to make amends, but alas we failed miserably once again, as we were forced into bringing in a trio of loan players, such as Tomas Cvancara, Junior Adamu, and Joel Mvuka. All three were available for yesterday’s Scottish Cup semi-final yet none of them even made it onto the Celtic bench.
All three have failed to make an impression, or in the case of Adamu and Joel Mvuka, aren’t even considered good enough for a place in recent squads.
Joel Mvuka of Celtic Celtic v Dundee, Scottish Cup, Fifth Round, Celtic Park, 07 February 2026. Photo Stuart Wallace IMAGO/ Shutterstock
There were much better options open to us, if we had any competence on the recruitment front. There were better options affordable to us, and more importantly options who would have added quality that could have seen us sitting in a much better place in the Scottish Premiership at this moment in time.
One such option as a potential signing was Mohamed Toure, an Australian international who was starring for Randers in the Danish top flight.
Mohamed Toure of Norwich City celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the Championship match between Oxford United and Norwich City at Kassam Stadium on February 10, 2026 (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)
Just 22, Toure is described as a striker with great physical strength as well as possessing terrific natural pace. Whilst he wasn’t exactly a proven experienced striker, or had a great goalscoring ratio, he had undoubted potential, something he was proving by starring in an average Randers side.
Norwich City scouts had done their homework properly and The Canaries swooped to sign the then promising 21 year old Australian international for the relatively low fee of just £2.4 million.
The results? Toure to date has scored eight goals and registered three assists in nine games for the English Championship side, including a hat-trick against Bristol City at the weekend, as Norwich look to keep in the hunt for a play off spot, just months after being stuck in the relegation zone.
Mohamed Toure of Norwich City celebrates scoring their third goal during the Emirates FA Cup Fourth Round match between Norwich City and West Bromwich Albion on February 14, 2026. (Photo by Stephen Pond/Getty Images)
So Toure was available for just £2.4 million had we done our homework. The fact that we were willing to pay £3.5 million for Joel Mvuka yet again highlights the incompetence that plaques the recruitment side of things within Celtic Football Club.
How is it going to get any better this summer? There will be a new manager coming in but what will he have left from this current squad to work with? Will he be happy with the current recruitment operation that has been tried and tested and shown to be inadequate in the extreme.
Photo Vagelis Georgariou
I’m not saying that Mohamed Toure could have been as good as Kyogo in his prime but he’d certainly have done more than our January or indeed most of our summer recruits. A low bar maybe but yesterday showed what Martin O’Neill thinks of Celtic’s ill-considered January signings, essentially panic buys after the Wilfried Nancy experiment crashed and burned after just 33 days.
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Mohamed Toure – A £2.4m striker Celtic could easily have signed
