Celtic in talks to sign £6m Filet alternative

Now that Celtic have officially confirmed that Martin O’Neill is continuining in his role as manager for the 2026/27 campaign, the attention turns to the summer transfer window.

The Northern Irish head coach needs to add a new centre-forward to his squad before next season, because Junior Adamu and Tomas Cvancara are both set to return to the Bundesliga after their respective loans.

Kelechi Iheanacho’s contract is also due to expire and it remains to be seen whether or not the club will exercise their option to extend his deal by a further year.

The Hoops have already been linked with a move to sign a new striker from elsewhere, as they are reportedly set to accelerate their attempts to sign Aarau centre-forward Elias Filet on a permanent deal.

He scored 20 goals in the Swiss second tier in the 2025/26 campaign and could arrive at Parkhead to provide a consistent goalscoring presence for O’Neill.

Celtic are in talks to sign Serie A centre-forward

The Scottish Premiership champions are still looking for their replacement for Kyogo Furuhashi, who scored 85 goals in 165 games for the club, despite selling him to Rennes 18 months ago.

Now, the club are reportedly looking at an alternative to Filet who could arrive at Parkhead this summer as O’Neill’s own version of Kyogo next season.

According to Tutto Mercato WebCeltic are interested in a deal to sign Hellas Verona centre-forward Kieron Bowie in the summer transfer window to bolster their options at the top end of the pitch.

The report claims that the Hoops have already made contact with the Italian side to hold talks about what a deal for the striker would look like in the off-season, but they are yet to make a formal offer for his services.

It adds that Hellas Verona could decide to cash in on some of their star players in the summer window because they have been relegated to the Serie B and may need to raise funds.

Last month, it was reported that a fee of £6m would be enough for Celtic to see a bid accepted for the forward, five months after his move from Hibernian in the January transfer window.

How Kieron Bowie can be Celtic’s new Kyogo Furuhashi

The Scottish giants must now submit an offer for the Scotland international in the coming weeks because Bowie has the potential to be O’Neill’s own version of Kyogo as a consistent goalscoring threat at Parkhead.

Filet’s numbers in the Swiss second tier show promise, as he scored 20 goals, but it is hard to predict how he would scale up to playing at a higher level, as he is currently playing in the second tier outside of Europe’s major leagues

Bowie, who was described as the “perfect lone striker” by writer Kai Watson, has already proven himself in the Premiership during his time with Hibernian, and showed moments of quality in one of Europe’s major leagues in the Serie A in the second half of this season.

A return of four goals in 14 Serie A games in a team that was relegated from the division is far from a poor return, and shows that he can score against top level defenders.

Two of his four goals in the Italian top-flight came against European giants Inter, who won the league title, and Juventus, which speaks to his goalscoring quality.

On top of his form in Italy, Bowie also scored eight goals from 5.69 xG in the Premiership during the first half of the season for Hibernian, which earned him a move to the Serie A.

Meanwhile, Daizen Maeda scored 14 goals from from 15.47 xG and missed 23 ‘big chances’ in the league for O’Neill’s side, which illustrates the volume of high-quality chances that Celtic create for their starting number nine.

Now, imagine a player with Bowie’s proven finishing quality in a Celtic team that is consistently creating ‘big chances’ for him to find the back of the net for O’Neill next season.

The Scottish marksman appears to have the quality required to make the most of that creativity, which is why he could be the club’s new Kyogo as a consistent goalscorer who could be the number nine they have been lacking since they sold the Japan international.