Former Celtic assistant John Collins believes the club must resist the temptation to cash in on key players before this month’s Champions League play-off against LASK.
Celtic face the Austrian champions over two legs, with the first meeting in Glasgow on Wednesday, August 19, before the return leg on Tuesday, August 25.
It is a tie that carries immense pressure with a place in the Champions League at stake and the financial rewards that come with it hanging in the balance.
Attention has shifted away from the opening-day league win and back to the transfer window.
Alistair Johnston continues to be linked with Everton, while reports claim Arne Engels has reached a verbal agreement with West Ham United. The London club have yet to match Celtic’s reported £25 million valuation, while O’Neill has confirmed Everton have made contact over Johnston.
Collins knows this situation is nothing new for Celtic. Developing players and selling them on has long been part of the club’s model, but he believes timing is everything.
Speaking to BBC Sport, he said:
“It’s always a challenge, selling good, established players and bringing in new talent.”
“It’s nothing new; that’s the merry-go-round that all the clubs have. You sign young players, you develop them, the big boys from England come with the big money and tempt the players and ultimately you end up selling them for top dollar and you’ve got to replace them.
“The secret is, you have the replacement lined up. The day they leave, the replacement’s in, or the replacement’s in before they leave.”
If either player were to depart before the LASK tie, there would be precious little time to integrate a replacement before the biggest matches of the season so far.
With Champions League qualification worth around £40 million, taking that gamble would be difficult to justify. Collins certainly thinks so.
“It’s not as easy as it sounds but I’d like to think Celtic won’t be selling any of them before the Champions League qualifier. I think that would be a risk”, he added.
The former Celtic midfielder also pointed to last season’s painful exit against Kairat Almaty as a reminder of what is at stake.
“If you ask any Celtic fan, they want to be with the big guns in the Champions League. They never got it last year.”
“It was bitterly disappointing to go out against a weak team, so hopefully they can keep those key players that the big boys are after, get the result, get through and then if they have to sell them, they get good offers after that, and hopefully Celtic have had the time…
“I think everybody knew there was every chance there were going to be offers coming in for those two players, so they’ve had time to look for replacements.”
Nothing has been decided over Johnston or Engels, but few supporters will be relaxing until the transfer window closes.
Johnston, in particular, would leave a sizeable gap. The Canadian international has been one of Celtic’s most consistent performers since arriving, excelling under Ange Postecoglou and Brendan Rodgers before returning from injury towards the end of last season to help Martin O’Neill’s side over the line in both the Premiership and Scottish Cup.
Replacing that level of consistency this close to a Champions League play-off would be a major challenge, no matter how much money arrives.
There is league business to take care of before LASK visit Glasgow, but it is impossible to ignore the significance of the weeks ahead. Celtic have put themselves within touching distance of Europe’s top table again. Holding onto their best players long enough to get there could prove just as important as anything that happens on the pitch.
