Transfer Deadline Day Preview: Cool heads in the chaos

Today, Tuesday 30th August, has been a whirlwind of rumours, bids, done deals and more rumours in the world of football. Celtic haven't been immune to this, the day beginning with the prospect of four changes to the squad before day's end. As it turned out there was only one, Mohammed Bangura joined the club from AIK in Sweden for a reported fee of £2.2m on a four-year deal. It's the type of distraction most managers hate even if they manage to pick up a bargain or get rid of players clogging up overburdened squads. In fact, there have been calls recently from managers in the Scottish Leagues to the top of the English Leagues to ensure the transfer window shuts before competitive action begins and it's likely the subject will come up at a meeting of top coaches in Nyon later this week. For the fan its a fairly exciting and fairly frustrating time that can bring knots to stomachs or good moods to the fore.

Overnight it was reported in The Scottish Sun that Georgios Samaras and Shaun Maloney were moving on, to be replaced by two strikers, one of them was Bangura. The other was Maritimo striker Baba Diawara who appeared to be on the verge of joining until early afternoon when word came through from Portugal that he wouldn't be signing for Celtic in this window due to 'visa issues'. At face value it seemed to be just too late to sign the Senegalese player but STV later reported that Celtic hadn't even applied for a working visa for Diawara which suggests that only one striker was ever going to come in. Celtic apparently had two deals running simultaneously, if the Bangura fell through, Diawara would have signed. It's a pretty smooth way to operate in what can be a frantic and unpredictable couple of days. Neither Samaras or Maloney have left the club but Wigan chairman Dave Whelan has spoken in the media confirming talks will continue over a Maloney move tomorrow. Samaras looks likely to join a new club as well with Sunderland and St.Etienne sniffing about the Greek today, though nothing more than rumour has been reported at the moment.

This is the current situation as of 18:39 but new rumours and developments are happening on an almost hourly basis and going into tomorrow anything can happen. It's my belief that Celtic are still actively trying to sign a player or two, hopefully defenders. As I'm typing this Liam Ridgewell has handed in a transfer request to Birmingham which has been rejected, Celtic have been linked with the versatile defender for a number of weeks. No more news has emerged about taking Paul Dixon, a left back, from Dundee United who have said tonight there's been no approach from Celtic. There has also been messageboard rumour of Dynamo Kiev left back Badr El Kaddouri joining. Alongside this there's always the prospect of a shock 'big name' arriving at Celtic Park, most likely on loan. As tiresome as this particular rumour can be, as long as Craig Bellamy hasn't found a club for the season, speculation will be rife among the Celtic community about where he will end up. All the names aside, we need defenders now as a priority even if another attacking option would be a nice luxury.

And who could leave the club, Samaras and Maloney aside? Will Morten Rasmussen and Jos Hooiveld be reunited with Tony Mowbray at Middlesborough or find their back to mainland Europe? Is Paddy McCourt surplus to requirements or looking for regular starts? Will we manage to hang on to our better players such as Kayal, Hooper and Ki? As it stands we have a squad of 27 players, youngsters excluded. I expect us to have the same number at close of business tomorrow but there is still time for a turnaround of faces. Celtic appear to have been waiting until the last week of the window to do the majority of business, taking advantage of time running out to squeeze maximum value out of deals both out and in. Neil Lennon said Bangura was being tracked by the club for almost a year so you could conclude that panic doesn't seem to be setting in at Parkhead, deals will only be concluded for players we have done homework on. I for one am looking forward to a busy, ridiculous day of anything goes hearsay and action. Who could forget Robbie Keane getting on a plane to Glasgow in January 2010? It was one of the most dramatic transfers we've seen at the club and completely out of the blue. I say again, anything can happen.

You can follow my twitter account @fritzagrandold in the closing hours for live updates, retweets and rumours from all over the internet. I can't claim to have any insider info whatsoever but will helpfully collate anything going.