Celtic are on the verge of completing a deal for Egypt international winger Haissem Hassan from Real Oviedo, with an initial fee reported at around £6m that could climb to £9m through add-ons. The 24-year-old, who caught the eye at this summer's World Cup, is expected to travel for a medical in Glasgow before the transfer is finalised, and multiple outlets now suggest the move could be announced within hours.
According to the Daily Record, the transfer has effectively been finalised, with an official club announcement said to be imminent once the player lands in Scotland. Separate reporting from Goal indicates Hassan has agreed personal terms on a four-year contract that would keep him at Celtic Park until the summer of 2030.
There is some variation in how the finances of the deal are being reported. ReadCeltic describes the agreed fee as €6m plus add-ons, while TeamTalk frames the overall package as potentially reaching £8m-£10m once bonuses are included. Adding further detail, Goal reports the contract contains a clause that would trigger extra payments to both Hassan and Real Oviedo should Celtic reach the league phase of the Champions League.
How did Hassan make his mark at the World Cup?
Hassan's rise to prominence came despite playing a limited role in the tournament, featuring for just 126 minutes yet doing enough to transform his profile. He was absent for all three of Egypt's group matches against Belgium, Iran and New Zealand after national team manager Hossam Hassan explained that a delay in registering the player, a former France youth international, had kept him out.
He finally appeared as a second-half substitute during Egypt's last-32 penalty shootout victory over Australia, before starting the last-16 tie against Lionel Messi's Argentina. Playing on the right flank despite being left-footed, Hassan set up Mostafa Zico's goal by beating Enzo Fernandez and delivering a precise cross as Egypt raced into a 2-0 lead, only to eventually lose 3-2 to the eventual runners-up.
It was a disallowed goal, however, that most vividly illustrated his attacking threat. Hassan drove forward from a deep right-back position, evaded two challenges over a 60-yard surge, and threaded a pass to Mo Salah, who squared for Zico to finish. Across his two World Cup outings he attempted nine dribbles, a rate of 6.4 per 90 minutes, underlining the direct, dynamic style that alerted Celtic to his availability.
What is Hassan's football background?
Born in France, Hassan represented the country at Under-17 and Under-18 level before switching allegiance to Egypt, his father's birthplace, making his senior debut for the Pharaohs earlier this year. He began his career at Chateauroux in central France, progressing from the club's B team into their senior side in the lower divisions.
A move to Villarreal in Spain followed in 2020, where he featured for the B team and had a loan spell at Mirandes before returning to the Yellow Submarine and finally sampling La Liga football. A subsequent loan took him to Sporting Gijon in the second tier, ahead of a permanent switch to Real Oviedo in 2024.
Hassan played a part in Oviedo's promotion in his first season there, contributing four goals and three assists, but found life far tougher back in La Liga last term. He managed three assists and no goals across 37 appearances, 20 of them starts, as Oviedo finished bottom of the table and were relegated immediately. His expected-goals tally of 0.15 for the season reflects how few clear chances came his way in a side that scored the fewest goals in the division by a wide margin.
How does this fit into Celtic's wider transfer activity?
Celtic's interest in Hassan is not a new development. The club had already been tracking the winger before turning their attention to other targets such as Scotland striker Kieron Bowie, alongside interest in Kelechi Iheanacho and Marcelo Saracchi, showing Hassan was one of several names on the club's radar earlier in the window.
More recently, reports confirmed that both Celtic and Rangers had lodged offers for wide players including Hassan and Couhaib Driouech, illustrating the competitive nature of the market for attacking reinforcements across Scottish football this summer. Sky Sports has also reportedly confirmed that Celtic made an official enquiry for Hassan, according to Yahoo Sports.
Where would Hassan fit into Celtic's attack?
Manager Martin O'Neill has been clear that he is prioritising quality over volume as he rebuilds a squad that has lost more than a dozen players since last season's league and Scottish Cup double. New striker Kasper Hogh operates as an out-and-out centre-forward, while fellow summer arrival Camilo Duran, though left-footed, has so far been used on the right wing in Celtic's first two competitive matches.
Hassan's arrival would likely see that right-wing role pass to him, freeing Duran to switch to the left in place of Yang Hyun-jun. O'Neill has also indicated he may deploy two strikers together, which would produce a front pairing of Hogh and Duran, supported by Hassan on the right and Yang on the left — a shape reminiscent of Gordon Strachan's Celtic teams, when Shunsuke Nakamura and either Aiden McGeady or Shaun Maloney played as inverted wingers behind central strikers such as Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, Georgios Samaras or Scott McDonald.
That style of link-up play was on display in Celtic's 5-1 win over Kilmarnock, in which Hogh scored a hat-trick after dropping deep and combining with team-mates, with three different players credited with assists for his goals. Hassan would add a further attacking option to that fluid system.
What happens next?
Hassan is expected to travel for a medical in Britain before the move is formally completed, according to Yahoo Sports, with several outlets suggesting an official club announcement could follow within hours of that examination. The timing is significant, with Celtic keen to have the winger eligible ahead of a Champions League qualifying deadline later this week, tied to their play-off tie against LASK.
One further wrinkle noted by Yahoo Sports is that Hassan's existing Real Oviedo contract was due to enter its final year, running until June 2027, which may have added urgency to negotiations on the Spanish side. Reports differ on whether this represents Celtic's second or third permanent signing of the summer, reflecting some inconsistency in how the broader transfer window has been tracked by different outlets.
Key Facts
- Reported transfer fee: an initial £6m, potentially rising to £9m in add-ons, though some reports cite a €6m base fee.
- Contract length reportedly agreed: four years, until summer 2030.
- World Cup output: 126 minutes played, one assist, nine dribble attempts (6.4 per 90 minutes).
- Last season at Real Oviedo: three assists, no goals in 37 La Liga appearances as the club were relegated.
- Medical expected in Glasgow ahead of a possible announcement within days, timed around Celtic's Champions League play-off with LASK.
