Old Firm Transfer Battle: Celtic and Rangers Pursue Ghedjemis

The Old Firm transfer arms race is already in full swing, and the window has not yet delivered its final twist.

Old Firm lock horns over Italian-based winger

On opposite sides of Glasgow, Celtic and Rangers have found themselves chasing the same target: Fares Ghedjemis of Frosinone.

The 23-year-old winger, Algerian by birth and sharpened in Serie A, has drawn interest from both clubs as they look to inject more pace and unpredictability out wide. The snag? Ghedjemis is understood to favour staying in Italy, but with a move to a bigger club rather than a leap to Scotland.

So the Old Firm are circling, but for now they are doing so around a player whose heart appears to remain in Serie A. If that stance softens, the battle lines are already drawn.

Celtic: holding firm, pushing hard

Across the city’s east end, Celtic’s summer is being defined by two parallel themes: resistance and ambition.

At right-back, Alistair Johnston has attracted serious attention from the Premier League. Fulham are ready to rival Everton in the chase for the Canada international, whose consistency and edge have made him a key figure under Brendan Rodgers.

Celtic know his value. They also know their timing. With Champions League play-off matches looming, former striker Chris Sutton has called it “strange” to even contemplate a sale before those ties are out of the way, insisting Johnston cannot be allowed to leave at this stage of the campaign’s build-up. The message from the outside matches the feeling inside the club: any deal would have to wait, and it would have to be big.

In midfield, Celtic have already shown they are in no mood to be pushed around. West Ham tested their resolve over Arne Engels and were firmly rebuffed. The 22-year-old, under contract for another two years, has been valued at £25m by the Scottish champions, who have rejected an offer from the London club.

Sutton has also questioned why Engels would entertain a move to the Championship with West Ham, underlining the sense in Glasgow that Celtic should not be seen as a stepping stone for England’s second tier. The valuation and the rhetoric both point in the same direction: if Engels leaves, it will be on Celtic’s terms.

While they fight to keep their core, Celtic are moving decisively on new blood. Mika Baur, the 22-year-old midfielder from Paderborn, is pushing hard for a move to Glasgow. He is described as having his heart set on joining Celtic and wants the switch completed as quickly as possible.

It is the kind of intent managers relish: a young player eager to step into the pressure cooker of Parkhead, rather than treat it as a fallback option. If the deal is done, Baur will arrive into a midfield already bristling with competition, but his determination to make the leap says plenty about Celtic’s pull in this window.

Rangers: rebuild gathers pace, but exits loom

On the other side of the city, Rangers are reshaping their squad with urgency and edge.

The Ibrox club are preparing to bring in as many as four further signings as they look to close the gap domestically and make a dent in Europe. That kind of churn comes at a cost. A “plethora” of exits is expected to clear space and raise funds, and even prized asset Nico Raskin is not immune.

The Belgian midfielder, one of the brighter sparks in recent seasons, could be sacrificed as Rangers look to rebalance the books and refresh the squad. Selling a fan favourite is always a gamble. Sometimes it bankrolls a title push; sometimes it rips out a vital thread. The board appear ready to roll those dice.

Not everything, though, can be controlled from the boardroom.

New signing Olwethu Makhanya is already facing a race against time. The defender could miss the Europa League tie against Jagiellonia Bialystok because of a visa issue, an administrative snag that threatens to delay his first meaningful contribution in a Rangers shirt.

For a club keen to hit the ground running in Europe, every missing body matters. For Makhanya, it is a frustrating pause just when he should be stepping into the spotlight.

A city on edge before a ball is kicked

Glasgow’s two giants are once again locked into the same storylines: fighting each other for targets, fending off English interest, gambling on youth, and weighing up painful sales in the name of progress.

Celtic are trying to hold their defensive line while pricing out predators and persuading key men that the Champions League is reason enough to stay. Rangers are braced to sell big names so they can buy in bulk and back their manager’s vision.

The season has not started, but the tone is already set. One club will get Ghedjemis, or he will stay in Italy. One club might lose a cornerstone to England. Both will change shape before deadline day.

When the dust settles, which dressing room will look ready for a title fight—and which will be left wondering if the biggest battle of their season was lost in the boardroom, long before the first Old Firm tackle flies in?