Celtic clearly set their sights on adding more quality in the centre-forward position early on in the summer transfer window, after Kelechi Iheanacho and Daizen Maeda's exits.

Camilo Duran joined from Qarabag for a fee of £6m and scored three goals in three pre-season matches ahead of Monday night's Scottish Premiership opener against Dundee.

The Hoops then swooped to sign Denmark international Kasper Hogh from Bodo/Glimt in a deal that could be worth a club-record fee in excess of £11m if add-ons are reached.

Now, the attention must turn to the wide positions so that Hogh and Duran have enough support around them at the top end of the pitch this season.

The profile of winger Celtic need to sign

Martin O'Neill needs more variety to his options on the right flank because the only two natural right wingers, Hyun-jun Yang and James Forrest, are both right-footed players.

Having a left-footed star in that role would open up more avenues for the attack as they can drift inside onto their favoured foot and create space for the right-back to offer more crosses on the overlap.

The Scottish giants do not need just any left-footed right winger, though, because they need to sign a forward who has the potential to deliver consistent quality in the final third.

Yang and Forrest only combined for nine goals and two assists in 58 appearances in the Premiership in the 2025/26 campaign, which speaks to the lack of outstanding quality on the right side for the Hoops.

The South Korea international had his moments, scoring eight goals in the division, but he has yet to hit double figures for goals or assists in a league campaign after three years in Glasgow.

Celtic have not had a left-footed right winger who has offered consistent quality since they sold Nicolas Kuhn, who scored 13 goals and provided nine assists in the 2024/25 Premiership season.

A year on from selling the German attacker to Como for £16.5m, the club are now looking at a player who could finally replace him at Parkhead.

The printed edition of Italian paper Il Corriere dello Sport (01/08/2026) reports that Celtic are one of a number of teams interested in signing Matteo Cancellieri from Lazio this summer.

It states that the Hoops, West Ham United, and Olympiacos have all made contact with the Serie A side to hold talks and enquire about a potential swoop for the forward.

However, the report claims that Lazio are currently stalling on selling him whilst they figure out how to deal with Gustav Isaksen's injury in that position, so the interested parties may have to wait until later in the window to secure his services.

Cancellieri, who is reportedly valued at £13m by the Italian side, could finally replace Kuhn at Parkhead by being a left-footed right winger who can offer eye-catching quality in the final third.

Both players played in the Serie A for their respective clubs in the 2025/26 campaign and it was the Italy international who came out on top with his return of goals and assists.

Given that Kuhn went straight to Como after scoring 13 goals and providing nine assists in the Premiership for Celtic, Cancellieri could be a superstar in Scotland because of how much more effective he was than the German in one of Europe's major leagues.

The former Hoops star's struggles in Italy suggest that the Serie A is a significant step-up in quality, which means that the Italian winger would be taking a step back, domestically, to play for the Scottish side.

He could thrive in the same way that Kuhn did by offering a consistent threat as both a scorer and a creator of goals on the right flank, as further evidenced by his exceptional form at youth level.

Cancellieri scored 19 goals in 23 matches for Roma's U17s and 17 goals in 23 appearances for Hellas Verona's reserve side, which shows that he does have the potential to score goals at an impressive rate if given the right platform to perform.

The £13m fee that he has been touted at could be viewed as a bargain when you consider that they sold Kuhn for £3.5m more than that and the Italy international outperformed him in the Serie A last term.

It is now down to the board to decide whether or not it is worth splashing the cash on the 24-year-old star, who could finally replace Kuhn in Glasgow.