Celtic enjoyed a successful end to the summer transfer window with three new additions to their first-team squad before the deadline passed on Friday.
The Hoops swooped to land two new central midfielders, in the form of Arne Engels and Luke McCowan from Augsburg and Dundee respectively, as well as central defender Auston Trusty from Sheffield United.
Brendan Rodgers needed to bolster his options in the middle of the park after Danish maestro Matt O'Riley completed a move to Premier League side Brighton & Hove Albion.
Engels and McCowan were not the only targets on the club's radar to fill the void left by the English-born star, however, as they did fail to sign Mateusz Bogusz from LAFC.
Celtic's pursuit of Mateusz Bogusz
Football Scotland reported in August that Celtic had been locked in talks with the MLS side over a deal to sign the versatile Polish midfielder this summer.
The outlet claimed, however, that LAFC eventually decided that they did not want to do business with the Scottish side, despite talks over a £5.5m transfer.
This meant that the Hoops were unable to get a deal over the line for the former Leeds United prospect to improve their options in the middle of the park.
Appearances
25
Goals
13
Assists
5
Big chances created
8
Tackles + interceptions per game
1.5
Duel success rate
40%
As you can see in the table above, Bogusz has been in fine form in the MLS for LAFC so far this year, with 13 goals in 25 appearances, and Celtic could have benefitted from his quality in the final third.
However, Celtic already had their own version of the Polish dynamo at the club, in youngster Rocco Vata, and lost him ahead of the 2024/25 campaign.
Celtic lost out with Rocco Vata
The Ireland youth international, who talent scout Jacek Kulig claimed has an "exciting" future ahead, decided to move on from Parkhead this summer, upon the expiry of his contract, and signed for English Championship side Watford.
Celtic did offer him a contract extension at Parkhead but their efforts were not enough to convince him to turn down the chance to play in the second tier down south.
It was a huge shame that Brendan Rodgers lost the 19-year-old talent, as he had the potential to be the manager's own version of Bogusz, due to his ability to play as an attacking midfielder or a centre-forward – just like the LAFC star.
The teenager had scored one goal in six first-team games for Celtic and his record at youth level suggested that he could have developed into a regular scorer for the club.
Vata plundered an eye-catching 23 goals in 34 matches for Celtic B, including 12 goals in 15 Lowland League appearances during the 2023/24 campaign.
His form for the academy side was good enough for Rodgers to hand him two senior outings last term, in which time the youngster found the back of the net once.
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Unfortunately, we will never know whether or not Vata would have lived up to his potential at Parkhead but his statistics suggest that he could have developed into the club's own version of Bogusz, as a versatile midfielder or attacker who could score goals on a regular basis.
