No Celtic deal for Bakayoko, and rightly so
Contrary to rumours flying around over the last few days, Celtic will NOT be offering a contract to former French international Tiemoue Bakayoko…
Sky Sports journalist Anthony Joseph reported yesterday on this story, effectively putting the rumours to bed once and for all.
“Celtic will not be offering Tiemoue Bakayoko a deal after the former Chelsea and AC Milan defensive midfielder trained with the club during the international break.
“It’s understood Bakayoko used the club’s facilities during the break to keep up his fitness.
“The France international has been without a club since July 2025, after leaving PAOK.”
No Celtic deal for Tiemoue Bakayoko
Martin O’Neill and his coaching staff would have used that time to have a good look at the former Chelsea and AC Milan midfielder, in a bid to see if he could add some quality to our low on depth midfield area.
However, despite the club being in desperate need of an experienced powerhouse midfield enforcer, and Bakayoko certainly ticks all those boxes, no contract offer was forthcoming in the Frenchman’s direction.
In the end it was certainly the right decision, as Bakayoko as talented and experienced as he is, hasn’t played a competitive game of football in over a year after being without a club since being released by Greek side PAOK.
Bakayoko in his hey day was a superb talent
Bakayoko in his hey day was a superb talent, but at 32 and deprived of competitive first team football in over a year, he’s not what Martin O’Neill requires to bolster his squad at this time, in particular the fragile and often exposed midfield area that clearly ‘lacks legs’ since the sale of the often criticised Arne Engels without the Celtic Board having either the ambition or the foresight to bring in a replacement.
Celtic’s Achilles heel caused by failing to replace Arne Engels
That decision was the root cause of the four painful defeats Celtic have suffered this season across four competitions – the Champions League (play-off stage), Premier Sports Cup, Europa League and of course most recently the Scottish Premiership. LASK pointed the way in exposing Celtic’s Achilles heel fighting back from a 4-0 deficit to win the tie and a gleeful bang average Rangers side benefited twice and Ferencvaros also took their share of Celtic’s humble pie.
Bakayoko hasn’t played in over a year
A player like Bakayoko who hasn’t played that much football in a lengthy period would take a considerable time to get up to speed with the demands of playing in Scottish football, never mind European matches, so it would be a few months before he would be able to prove his full worth, IF he still has the legs.
We need a midfield enforcer, but 32 year old Bakayoko is certainly not the answer, especially as we already have two ageing midfielders on the wrong side of 30 in our midfield in the Celtic captain Callum McGregor and Alex Oxlade Chamberlain.
Sensible decision from Martin O’Neill
It was a sensible decision by Martin O’Neill and co not to take their interest any further, or perhaps it was a decision taken upstairs when the matter of remuneration was discussed with the player or his agent. This time it was probably a football decision.
