Celtic transfer state of play on Bowie, Laquintana and Bamba as bad boy strike target sanctioned by boss
Martin O’Neill’s sounded a firm warning on Saturday night and time is of the essence with the window running at warp speed.
10:39, 12 Jan 2026Updated 08:48, 13 Jan 2026
Content cannot be displayed without consent
“So there’ll be no respite. If we pick up injuries to really key players here, we could be in serious trouble.”
Martin O’Neill sounded a firm warning on Saturday night and there’s palpable fear that Stephen Welsh‘s hasty return from Motherwell to Glasgow’s east end could be in direct response to Auston Trusty’s grimacing exit from the pitch after Saturday’s 4-0 win over Dundee United.
The Celtic boss knows signings are a necessity but punters, chastened by two consecutive misfiring windows, are running out of faith in the Premiership champions to get it right before the window closes.
But one player who won’t be pulling on the Hoops is Jocelin Ta Bi. The Maccabi Netanya winger, on loan at Hapoel Petak Tikva, appeared primed for a £2m move, however, Record Sport understands the deal is off due to a medical issue.
A winger is still on the Celtic hitlist but the search for reinforcements out wide pales into insignificance compared to the need for a striker.
And here’s where we’re at. Kyogo will stay at Birmingham after despite Celtic being keen to reunite with him. Lorient striker Mohamed Bamba has been linked in France, His goals have dried up this season with only one in all competitions. The Ivory Coast youth international could leave
Bamba appears primed to move on after boss Olivier Pantaloni delivered a withering update on his absent striker over the weekend.
Speaking after the 3-1 over Hauts Lyonnais, a visibly irked Pantaloni told Foot Amatuer Bretagne: “It’s simply a minor sanction for a lack of group discipline. Repeated lapses have led me to believe that, at a certain point, to perform well, one must also adhere to the discipline we’ve established. There have been a few shortcomings in this regard, and he has been sanctioned for them.”
Celtic are among the clubs who are being kept up to date with interest in Kieron Bowie with Hibs valuing the striker at £6.5million and doing all they can to keep hold of the Scotland international.
And Pantaloni was forced to address Bamba’s crisis of confidence just last month after a disappointing return of just one goal in 15 games this season, which was made worse after he was handed a penalty in a defeat by Lens….and missed it.
He said: “We let him take the penalty, thinking that scoring might give him a boost of confidence and get him going again, hoping we’d see the Momo we knew when he first arrived in Lorient.
“I didn’t dare go and talk to him right away. I’m giving him a bit of space, and I’ll check in with him later.
“He just can’t seem to get his confidence back. It’s not for lack of trying – we speak to him, we try to help by giving him minutes.
“We know his qualities, but he’s struggling to recapture what he brought when he joined us.
“But we still have a lot of faith in him, because if he finds his best form again, he can be a top-quality striker.”
Celtic manager Martin O’Neill (Image: )
Back to their needs out wide, the Herald insists Ignacio Laquintana remains a live target. The Uruguay winger is finding minutes hard to come by at Red Bull Bragatano in Brazil and would be keen to join the Premiership on a loan with option-to-buy.
