In his exclusive CeltsAreHere column, Mark Hendry has delivered a stinging critique of Celtic’s transfer strategy, particularly the club’s over-reliance on a small circle of agents and agencies, a practice he argues is no longer “fit for purpose.”
Hendry’s comments come in response to David Strelec’s midweek revelation, where the Slovak striker lifted the lid on a botched January move to Celtic. According to Strelec:
“There was real interest during the winter, but not now in the summer. The Scots came at the last minute in the winter, but they complicated it themselves. Their agent came, but mine didn’t know about it. The whole thing got tangled.”
In Hendry’s words:
“No contact was made with Strelec’s own agent. The man who has a direct route — and the mandate for his client’s career — was not consulted.”
He goes on to accuse the Celtic hierarchy of failing to adapt to modern football’s recruitment landscape, claiming their strategy of leaning on the same familiar agent contacts has led to missed opportunities and public embarrassment.
“Celtic’s over-reliance on the same agents at the same big companies to find them players in a pinch is not a model that is fit for purpose.”
Read more on CeltsAreHere Extra Time.
The Strelec saga was one of many transfer missteps over the last year.
The club repeated the same mistake in the summer, attempting to offload Adam Idah to Swansea while scrambling last-minute to sign Kasper Dolberg, a deal that ultimately collapsed.
The end result? Celtic were left without a striker after selling Kyogo in January and Idah in August, only managing to secure Kelechi Iheanacho post-deadline after he agreed to terminate his Sevilla contract.
With the January window already looming large, fans will be watching closely to see whether lessons have been learned or if the same chaotic approach will persist.
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