Celtic's Midfield Pursuit: Yves Bissouma on the Radar
Celtic’s bruising Champions League exit in Austria has left a mark, and Martin O’Neill knows exactly where the damage was done. Midfield. Outrun, outmuscled, outthought against LASK, his side never managed to grab hold of the game when it began to slip away.
So Celtic are looking for a grown-up in the middle of the park. A player who has lived at the sharp end of elite football. A player like Yves Bissouma.
The former Tottenham midfielder, 29, is on the market as a free agent after leaving Spurs, and his name has moved firmly onto Celtic’s radar. No fee. Big pedigree. Serious temptation.
Bissouma built his reputation in England as a ball-winner with bite and the composure to glide through pressure. He snaps into tackles, then drives forward with the ball rather than simply recycling it. For a Celtic side that folded when LASK turned up the heat, that profile hits a nerve.
This is not a quiet chase. According to journalist Lassana Camara, Celtic are “closely following” Bissouma’s situation, but they are not alone. Ajax have stepped into the picture. İstanbul Başakşehir are in there too. Three clubs, three leagues, one free agent with a decision to make as the window ticks towards its close.
Ajax, rebuilding and trying to rediscover their edge, see Bissouma as a ready-made presence for the heart of their team. Başakşehir, always alert to experienced European talent, like the look of his profile as well. Celtic, stung by their European collapse, see something different: a potential anchor for a midfield that has just been brutally exposed on the biggest stage.
For Bissouma, the next move is about more than a contract. After several seasons in the Premier League, this is a crossroads moment. Stay in the elite shop window with Ajax? Chase a new chapter in Turkey? Or walk into the noise, expectation and relentless demand for trophies in Glasgow?
The clubs are circling. The window is closing. The question now is simple: whose midfield will Yves Bissouma be patrolling when the season’s real battles begin?
