Celtic have made a habit out of buying and developing and selling on young talent over the years, as they have made millions in profit through player trading.
The likes of Matt O’Riley, Odsonne Edouard, Moussa Dembele, and Virgil van Dijk, among many others, have come and gone thanks to the club’s excellent recruitment work.
Whilst they have had success in plucking players out of top European countries, like van Dijk from the Netherlands or Dembele and O’Riley from England, they have also had success in snapping up talent from more obscure leagues.
For example, Celtic signed Kristoffer Ajer as a 17-year-old for £650k from Norwegian side Start, before they went on to sell him to Brentford for a reported fee of £13.5m.
The Hoops plucked the teenage talent up and sent him out on loan, to Kilmarnock, before integrating him into the first-team to develop into a £13.5m player, and they could repeat a similar trick with their interest in a midfielder this summer.
Celtic enquire about deal for Serbian midfielder
According to Cukaricki sporting director Vladimir Matijašević, Celtic have made contact over a potential deal to sign central midfielder Andrej Bacanin before the end of the summer transfer window.
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Speaking to the club’s official website, he said: “There’s significant interest in our young players, and right now the spotlight is on Andrej Bačanin’s transfer. His performances last season for both our team and the Serbian national side at youth level have drawn attention from numerous clubs.
“We’ve had enquiries from Scottish giants Celtic and Rangers, and clubs like Ajax and Udinese are also interested, among others. It’s possible more options will emerge, but I expect the transfer to be completed within the next ten days.”
This shows that the Hoops are interested in the 18-year-old talent, who could arrive at Parkhead to follow a similar path to success in Scotland as Ajer.
Why Celtic should sign Andrej Bacanin
The Scottish Premiership giants should push to win the race for the teenage starlet’s signature this summer because he could be a future star for the club.
At the age of 18, Bacanin should not be expected to arrive as an immediate first-team star, as he only just made his breakthrough at senior level in Serbia in the second half of the 2024/25 campaign.
Instead, the Serbia U19 international could follow Ajer’s path by joining another Premiership team, or a club in another country, on loan to continue his development, before making the step to Brendan Rodgers’ team further down the line.
Although he may not be ready to make an instant impact in Glasgow for Celtic, his performances in the Serbian Superliga show that he does have potential.
Appearances
17
Starts
10
Goals
1
Assists
2
Tackles per 90
2.3
Interceptions per 90
1.8
Error led to goal
0
Penalties committed
0
As you can see in the table above, Bacanin offered a screening presence in front of the back four when he played, averaging 4.1 tackles and interceptions per 90 in the division.
Meanwhile, no central midfielder for Celtic managed more than 2.0 tackles and interceptions per game, which suggests that the Serbian youngster could offer a defensive midfield option that Rodgers does not currently have.
As was the case with Ajer, though, Bacanin will need to be playing games week-in-week-out to hone his skills and develop as a player, which is why bringing the young whiz in before sending him out on loan could be a shrewd move.
The Hoops could snap him up this summer, to ensure that their rivals do not steal a march of them, before sending him away to develop and improve, with the hope that he will come back a better player who is ready to make his mark on Parkhead in the 2026/27 campaign.
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Serbian Football Scout, who is a professional scout for MLS side Colorado Rapids, previously dubbed Bacanin a “true midfield controller”, and he could control games for Celtic in the future, if they get this deal done.
