Celtic are ramping up their efforts to improve their squad to make sure that it is in the best place possible to attack the 2025/26 campaign across all competitions.
The sale of Nicolas Kuhn to Como and the ACL injury to Jota, who is set to be out until the turn of the year, meant that a winger was always going to be high on the agenda for the Hoops.
Celtic have reportedly agreed a deal worth up to £5m with Royal Antwerp for Belgian winger Michel-Ange Balikwisha in an attempt to fill the void the Kuhn and Jota situations left in the squad.
The 24-year-old forward is now due to undergo a medical this week before arriving at Parkhead to compete with Daizen Maeda, Hyun-jun Yang, and James Forrest for a starting berth.
Celtic agree deal to sign new defender
Balikwisha is not set to be the only new arrival to link up with Brendan Rodgers’ squad in Glasgow before the end of the week, though, as they are also poised to add another defender to the group.
Transfer Focus
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According to Sky Sports journalist Anthony Joseph, Celtic have agreed a deal with Boca Juniors to sign experienced left-back Marcelo Saracchi this week.
The reporter claims that the Uruguay international is due to travel to London to undergo a medical before his official unveiling as a new Celtic player.
Joseph adds, though, that there will not be an option to make the deal permanent at the end of the season, which meaens that he will return to Boca Juniors next summer.
What Marcelo Saracchi could bring to Celtic
The loanee ace could come in as a very solid back-up option and alternative to Kieran Tierney at left-back, with the defensive skills to be Emilio Izaguirre 2.0 at Parkhead.
After arriving from South America, Honduras specifically, in 2010, Izaguirre went on to play a whopping 271 matches in all competitions for Celtic, winning seven Scottish Premiership titles, per Transfermarkt.
The Honduras international averaged 5.3 tackles and interceptions per game across his European career with the Hoops, per WhoScored, and Saracchi could provide a similar defensive presence down the left flank.
As was the case with Izaguirre, the Uruguay international is not a flying full-back who is likely to deliver five goals and ten assists, with no more than three goals or four assists in a single season in his career, but he is a dependable defender at left-back.
2025 (Boca Juniors)
11
4.4
2024 (Boca Juniors)
25
3.6
2023 (Boca Juniors)
16
2.8
22/23 (Levante)
30
3.2
21/22 (Levante)
4
5.8
As you can see in the table above, Saracchi has largely been an active defender over the last five seasons with more than three tackles and interceptions per 90 across all five campaigns combined.
These statistics show that he can be a similar left-back to Izaguirre at European level for Celtic because he is a defence-first full-back who loves to get stuck in with challenges to cut out opposition attacks and win the ball back for his side.
Whilst Saracchi may only be on loan for a reason, rather than a long-term signing who can win seven league titles, he could follow in Izaguirre’s footsteps as another solid defender from South America who can do a job at left-back to help the Hoops in big European matches in the Champions League.
