Celtic’s real transfer deadline revealed as Europa League clock starts ticking

Celtic have less time than it appears to repair the damage exposed by their Champions League collapse against LASK.

The Scottish transfer window remains open until 5pm on Thursday, September 3, but Martin O’Neill faces a more pressing deadline when it comes to strengthening his squad for Europe.

Under UEFA regulations, Celtic must submit their List A squad for the Europa League league phase by 23:59 CET on Wednesday, September 2 – 10.59pm UK time.

It effectively leaves Celtic with less than five days after Friday’s Europa League draw to complete any business intended to strengthen O’Neill’s European squad.

Sky Sports reporter Anthony Joseph has highlighted the discrepancy between the two deadlines and what it means for Scottish clubs competing in Europe.

Any player Celtic sign after Wednesday night could still be registered for domestic competition but would be ineligible for all eight Europa League league-phase fixtures between September and January.

There is no obvious workaround through List B either, with players required to meet strict age and club-trained criteria, including at least two uninterrupted years of eligibility with Celtic after their 15th birthday.

Celtic could register up to three additional players for the knockout rounds should they qualify, but that would offer O’Neill little consolation during the league phase.

Even before the collapse in Linz, the Hoops were expected to make at least four further additions before the window closed, with a goalkeeper, left-back and central midfielder among the areas identified for reinforcement.

Tuesday night only served to underline deficiencies which already existed within the squad.

Celtic will discover their eight Europa League opponents when the draw takes place on Friday, August 28. From there, the recruitment team will have only a matter of days to ensure O’Neill has the reinforcements required for another European campaign.