There is no doubt that the Celtic board botched the summer transfer window.
That’s one of the reasons Celtic fans continue to protest the board, including their desire to see senior members like Peter Lawwell and Michael Nicholson leave.
There is no doubt that Celtic is one of the world’s most powerful clubs, but in terms of finances, they cannot compete with some regions of Europe, particularly the English Premier League, La Liga in Spain, Italy’s top division, or the Bundesliga in Germany.
But it’s so apt that, while Celtic created an abysmal 2025 summer transfer window, Club Brugge in Belgium, who don’t exactly have the same financial resources as the Hoops in Scotland, showed the champs how to do it.
Celtic told to copy Club Brugge’s model amid fans’ protest
Club Brugge reached the Champions League’s last-16 last season and, like Celtic, had to go through qualifiers this summer to ensure their spot among the elite, which they achieved by defeating Rangers.
Furthermore, Brugge crushed Monaco 4-1 on their first night of Europe’s elite league, despite losing so many key players over the summer.
However, while Celtic left it far too late to improve their roster, the Belgian Pro League taught the Scottish champions how to do so.
And now, speaking on Go Radio, Peter Grant wants Celtic to follow the example of Club Brugge, which sold ‘£80 million’ in talent and spent roughly half of that.
“Look at Brugge,” Grant remarked. “I believe we should be a Brugge. Always qualified for it. This summer, they sold money for big players for perhaps £80 million or such.
“They took in £40 million worth of players. That’s how you have to do it. “Don’t tell me Brugge is bigger than Celtic.”
Club Brugge shows Celtic the way in transfer deals.
AC Milan, freshly promoted Sunderland, and Brighton all benefited from raiding Club Brugge for some of their talents this summer.
The largest transfers were Ardon Jashari’s return to AC Milan for £32 million and left-back Maxim de Cuyper’s move to Brighton for £17.5 million.
But what’s important about these transactions is that Brugge completed them as soon as possible and brought in replacements, even before their Champions League qualifications.
Nicolò Tresoldi, who joined from Hannover 96, appeared in all qualifiers and scored and assisted against Rangers.
Aleksandar Stanković, a midfielder, also scored during the Gers game. Carlos Forbs scored a key equaliser in the previous round as Brugge defeated Red Bull Salzburg.
Surprise, surprise, fresh faces, summer recruits who arrived early and scored important goals to propel Brugge into the Champions League.
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