Maeda out, Baur in for Celtic. Will the message I read out on the Trinity Tims come to pass? Hassan next, then a goalie and one other?
Was the message in question sent to try and relieve some of the heat on the Celtic board at the moment?
Eric Knott 
Last Monday night on the Trinity Tims podcast, one of our writers on the Read Celtic website sent us an anonymous text, I read it out live on air.
I’ve provided a link to the podcast, it will also be at the bottom of this article.
Specifically, if you go to 39:34 on the pod, you can hear me read it out.
Below is the message in question.
Who the source is, nobody knows.
But the veracity of it thus far is not in question.
Within less than 24 hours of receiving that message, Fabrizio Romano announced that German Under-21 international, Mika Baur, would be joining Celtic.
🚨🟢⚪️ Understand Celtic have reached an agreement with Mika Baur on personal terms.
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 21, 2026
Club to club talks ongoing with Padernorn. pic.twitter.com/B2y8peXzoP
This confirmed the signing of a German player, as per the message.
Throughout the day, it became more clear that Daizen Maeda would be departing for newly promoted Ipswich Town in the EPL.
Confirming that Maeda had a agreed a deal to leave, as per the message.
The question here is who gave out this info?
And why?
Did this leak happen because the Celtic board wanted the heat take off them because this transfer window has been an unmitigated disaster so far?
Now don’t get me wrong, the news contained within the message is excellent, if true.
I said on the podcast that we’d much rather be talking about good things happening at Celtic, than being negative all the time.
Kasper Hogh will be an fantastic signing for us.
A tried and trusted Champions League level player, with an asking price of just £7 million.
Hassan, as we know, played very well in the World Cup.
He’s another addition that would definitely be welcomed at this stage.
Put a goalkeeper into the mix, and we’re well on the way to commencing the rebuild required at the club.
There is also a rumour we are close to signing James Penrice from AEK Athens.
He would be back up for Kieran Tierney.
However, before all of the happy clappers lose the plot and start trying to ram it down our throats that the Celtic board know what they’re doing, spare me.
4 players, however good they might be, does not come anywhere close to rebuilding the squad to the level required.
Especially if the board are hell bent on selling Arne Engels, Reo Hatate, and Benjamin Nygren.
In addition to that, nobody is stepping forward to quell the rumours that Callum McGregor might be Saudi Arabia bound.
If all of those players leave, a German Under-21, who has plied his trade in the German second tier, is not going to be the answer to all of our midfield problems.
With the departure of Daizen Maeda, we are losing both a striker and a left winger.
That leaves us with Michel-Ange Balikwisha and Sebastian Tounekti.
Hossam Hassan, if he signs, is a predominantly right winger.
So, as I said earlier on, if these four signings come to pass – this is great news – but it is only the commencement of our rebuild.
And it does not replace, like for like, the players we could lose if the board are determined to sell our remaining top assets.
£10 million for Maeda is a good piece of business when you consider he is in the last year of his contract, and he only cost us £1.5 million initially.
The club has made a nice profit on him.
And nobody begrudges him this move.
He has more than earned, especially with the the way he closed out last season.
I personally wish him all the best, and will watch closely how he progresses in the EPL at Ipswich.
Let’s hope he helps them to remain in the EPL in their first season back.
Which, in that environment, is always a tall order.
As for the mystery text?
Will the business reported in it come to pass over the coming days?
Well, I guess we’ll just have to watch this space, won’t we?
Exciting times at Celtic.
For a change….
Key Takeaways
- An anonymous text read on the Trinity Tims podcast revealed information about Celtic’s transfer activities.
- Mika Baur’s signing was confirmed shortly after the message, alongside Daizen Maeda’s expected departure.
- The podcast discusses the potential impact of recent signings on Celtic’s squad build amid ongoing concerns about other player departures.
- While new signings are promising, the article stresses this is just the start of the necessary rebuild at the club.
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Phillip Cooney 
Hate to be a party pooper, but regardless of who they do or don’t bring in, it’s too late, for a number of reasons.
They caved in because of one thing and one only ,constant and insistant pressure from the fans , a big drop in income through not another penny , and a stadium virtually empty put the breeze up them, but the odious Desmond and his malignant junta of corporate greed and austerity fc have not changed and will not change , their game plan and modus operandi is virtually the same as the equally odious Mike Ashley, so stop giving them your money or you are complicit in the destruction of our club, this a long range strategy bit by bit starve them out
Is this guy for real? No matter how powerful and organised the fans are they cannot manage the club. Fact. Unless they can buy out the major shareholder, the man they describe as “the odious Desmond”and match his contribution to the club, not much is likely to change. Fact. While the warfare involving supporters and the board continues, the club will obviously blossom and the team will respond to this new order by playing out of its skin. Bullshit to that. Fact. To run the club into the ground and beat the board to death seems now to be the twin aims of the organised supporters of Celtic, blind to what effect this will ultimately have on the club.This will also affect what players if any are attracted to Celtic, with the warring within the club adding to the market difficulties already being experienced in finding players. The board obviously needs to be more aware of its listening and communication deficiencies but the supporters need to find a cure for their suicidal sickness too.
These 4 signings might take the immediate heat off the board a bit,should they happen.But only if they kick on and add another 4 or 5 that are desperately required before the window shuts.Integrating so many into a team at once isn’t ideal either.Maloney ,Fozzy,Grant etc will be working thur nuts off.
Trying to ingratiate so many players into the squad in a short space of time means Maloney,Fozzy,Grant etc gonny be working their nuts off 24/7.This should all have been in hand weeks ago.Same old same old.