Regens 2050

First Team Squad 

A new £20m signing from Valencia ready for the 2050/2051 season, after being unhappy with the performaces of the goalkeeper brought in following the departure of Brazilian international Edson in two seasons ago.

Scotland international who came through the youth academy, given three seasons to impress but ultimately failed to fill the gloves left behind by Edson and the legacy of Raymond Dekker.

Third choice goalkeeper signed on a one year deal from Shakhtar.

The subject of many failed transfer bids from Celtic while at Hull City, the England international finally moved to Glasgow on a free transfer at the beginning of the 2049/2050 season.

Signed on a free transfer from Montpellier for the 2050/2051 season, Benali will act as back-up to Leigh O'Reilly and may feature in the domestic cup competitions.

Bought from Porto for £975k back in 2039, Jorge Costa spent time on loan at Bolton and Tottenham before cementing his place as Celtic's first choice left-back at the start of the 2043/2044 season.

Signed on a free transfer from Arsenal in the summer of 2050, Grimm will be understudy to Costa for the 2050/2051 season with a view to becoming his long-term successor.

Celtic activated Sameh Shaaban's £3m release clause in the summer of 2034, bringing the Egyptian international in from Atletico Madrid. Now Celtic vice-captain, Shaaban has made 600 appearances for the Bhoys and scored 159 goals from the centre of defence. Nine time African Player of the Year and nine time Ballon d'Or nominee.

A £1.7m purchase from Corinthians in the summer of 2048, Celtic needed to wait 18 months for Marcos Vinicius to get the clearance to join Celtic. A potential Bhoys captain of the future.

Signed from Ajax for £13.5m in 2045, the ball playing central defender has never reached the heights that many expected of him but is still an able deputy to the first choice partnership.

A new £16m signing from Liverpool, the Welsh international replaced the outgoing Serbian international Tomislav Radosevic. Celtic hope the central defender can form a valuable partnership with Marcos Vinicius going forward.

Signed from Mainz as a 14 year old, Torsten Reich was thrust into the Celtic team following a spate of injuries at the beginning of the 2048/2049 season and has remained first choice anchorman ever since.

A new £8m signing from Everton, Grant Rimmer made his debut for the Toffees as a 15 year old and helped the club to promotion back to the Premier League in 2049/2050. Will rival Torsten Reich for a spot in defensive midfield in the long term.

A mainstay in the Celtic side ever since his £4.5m move from Benfica in January 2044, subject of interest from Tottenham in the summer of 2050 - Flavio Sa remains an important part of the Celtic team in the centre of midfield.

A ball winning midfielder signed from Celtic's feeder club Dinamo Zagreb, fitness issues and injury problems have limited Matej Grgic's stake for a place in the Celtic starting line-up.

Bought from Partick Thistle for £3.9m in the summer of 2050 after a string of impressive sides in the Scottish Premier League, Juan Murillo will offer depth in midfield for Celtic - something that was missing as the side failed to claim the 2049/2050 title.

An England international signed from Manchester United for £12m in 2047, Adrian Jones is a deep-lying playmaker who alternates in midfield with Gustavo Britos.

Bought for £3.5m from Velez in 2043, the Argentine international has been an important part of Celtic's team ever since but fitness issues have meant that Britos has never played more than 25 games a season in the Scottish Premier League.

The subject of long term interest from Celtic, they finally captured Denis Leclercq in 2049 for £6m but suffered a knee ligament injury almost immediately. Is tipped to be the midfield successor to Jones and Britos.

Celtic's record signing when he was bought for £20m from Sunderland in 2042, has gone on to make 285 appearance for Celtic and scored 143 goals from the right hand side of midfield. He was awarded with the Ballon d'Or in 2048 after a string of amazing performances for both Celtic and England.

Ruben Saez was signed for £6m from Sturm Graz as back-up to Charlie Hook, has chipped in with some important goals and turned his back on his native Spain to become a full Argentina international. A World Cup winner in 2050.

A £9.25m signing from Ajax after Celtic activated his release clause in 2047, will now look to cement his place in the Celtic team after being used in rotation with Belgium international Eddy-Tim Claesen who left for Tottenham in the summer of 2050.

Signed as back-up to Anthony Amofah in a £7m deal from cash stapped Stade Malherbe Caen, he will be used from the bench and will likely feature in domestic cup competitions.

Another former Caen player, Mathias Mesnil was brought in on a free transfer as an 18 year old in 2037, he was back-up to club legend Ivica Strok before taking on the goal scoring mantle in 2042. Has gone on to feature in 329 Scottish Premier League matches, finding the net 363 times. A three time Ballon d'Or winner.

Bought for £10.5m from Fenerbache in 2047, Mehmet Ali Demerican will look to be Mathias Mesnil's heir when the French international finally retires. Has already racked up 90 appearances for Celtic, scoring 49 times.

A free transfer from Sevilla, Gildo Serrano is Puerto Rico's star man and chipped in with important goals throughout the 2049/2050 season. A hit at Southampton when on loan in the Premier League, Manchester City attempted to take him back there with a rejected £17m bid in the summer of 2050.

A product of Celtic's youth academy, there remain high hopes for Gavin Main at the club but he needs to find his goalscoring touch if he is to surpass Mehmet Ali Demerican and Gildo Serrano as Mathias Mesnil's long term successor in the centre forward role. 

Out On Loan 

A potential successor in the first team for Sameh Shaaban, he is currently on loan at Dundee United where he will seek to get a foothold in the Scottish Premier League.

Signed in 2049 as back-up to Jorge Costa, Yunus Elfadl will spend the 2050/2051 season on loan at Lyon where he will hope to impress enough to get a shot in the first team when he returns to Celtic next year.

An £8m signing from Tours when he was still only 16, there are big expectations for Cephas Nyamadzawo at Celtic and he will have the chance to impress while on loan back in his native France with CS Sedan Ardennes.

Celtic have a rich history of getting the very best out of Croatian strikers and Goran Boban will look to continue that tradition. Spending a second successive season on loan at Sheffield Wednesday, he will look to continue the form that saw him score 13 goals in the Premier League last year.

Jonathan Sharples' Greatest Celtic XI

To mark Celtic manager Jonathan Sharples' 20 years at the club, we invited him to name the best team he could from all the players he has managed during his time at the side from Glasgow. Some positions picked themselves (we're sure you can work out which), and some took a longer time to consider.

GK: Raymond Dekker. The man they nicknamed 'Desmond'. A free transfer from Feyenoord in the summer of 2018, the 6'10 Dutchman went on to make close to 1,000 appearances in a Celtic shirt and kept clean sheets in over 60% of the games he featured in. Arguably Sharples' most important signing for the Bhoys. He retired in 2038, with Celtic still searching for a suitable successor to the giant.

RB: Adam Matthews. The Welshman had already been at the club for six years when Sharples arrived at the club in 2017 and stayed for the next seven seasons racking up honours along the way. Many of the goals scored by Celtic in those years came from Matthews' right back position. He left to join Norwich for just £1m in 2024 before moves to Hull City and New York Red Bull, he retired in 2028.

CB: Martin Luptak. Signed from Rapid Vienna for £7.5m in 2026, the Slovakian defender formed an impressive partnership alongside former captain Borja for a decade and was shortlisted for the Ballon d'Or on four separate occasions. His leadership and ability to keep a cool head was often cited as the reason Celtic continued their dominance of European football. After 15 years of service, he left the club on a free transfer in the summer of 2041.

CB: Nathaniel Chalobah. His free transfer signing from Chelsea in 2019 marked the beginning of Celtic's impressive rise to one of Europe's leading clubs. Captaining the Bhoys to their first European Cup in 55 years in 2022. Won almost a century of England caps during his time at the club. He moved to Sunderland in 2026 for £5m following the arrivals of Luptak and Borja, before retiring in 2030.

LB: Zarko Koprivica. Another player signed from Austrian side Rapid Vienna, moving to Celtic for £2.5m in 2018. In his seven years at the club he made the left back berth his own and became one of the leading full backs in Europe. Why Sharples allowed him to move to Everton for just £100k in 2025 still remains a mystery.

DM: Karim Guendouz. Turning down a move to Celtic to join CS Sedan Ardennes in 2025, Sharples had to wait until his contract expired at the French club in 2029 to finally get the Algerian international. His ability to read the game was crucial to the side, and his 22 goals for the club nearly always came at crucial times. He departed the club in 2038 for £2.5m to spend a season with Manchester City before retiring.

CM: Zarko Maric. A complete unknown outside his native Serbia when the midfielder arrived at the Bhoys for £4m in 2021, but his hard tackling soon endeared him to the Parkhead faithful. He spent 13 years with the club forming one of the best midfield partnerships in the world with Mike Owen, before retiring in the summer of 2034.

CM: Mike Owen. The Manchester United academy graduate spent time on loan at four different Championship clubs before moving to Celtic in 2018. His technical ability struck the perfect balance alongside the tenacity of Zarko Maric, with many comparing their partnership to that of Andrea Pirlo and Rino Gattuso. He retired at the club just one season before his Serbian friend, in 2033.

AMR: Sven Zwarthoed. One of Europe's hottest properties when he joined Celtic from Ajax in 2023 for £4m aged just 15, and initially signed as Mike Owen's long term successor in central midfield. Converted to play on the right wing while in the Celtic youth teams, he usurped one time record signing Tyrone Trice to become a first team regular by 2030 and has since made almost 600 appearances for the club.

AML: Marc Walsh. A surprise signing from Norwich City when his contract expired at the Norfolk club in 2032. By 2034 the Irishman had shown enough talent for Sharples to sell the man who scored a brace in the 2032 Champions League final, Noé Rojas, to the Canaries. His speed and crossing ability has seen him twice nominated for the Ballon d'Or and rack up nearly 200 assists for the Bhoys in just over 300 games.

ST: Ivica Strok. Quite simply Celtic's greatest ever player, their record goalscorer and arguably the best striker in footballing history. The Croatian joined Celtic for £5m in January 2020 and over the next two decades has scored over 800 times for the Glasgow club. Initially signed to provide competition to Marcel Kovar, Strok had already scored 157 times by the time Kovar left for Monaco in 2024 - 25 more than the Czech did in his entire Celtic career. Many say being overlooked for the 2032 Ballon d'Or is one of football's great injustices of the modern era. Strok also holds the record for most goals in the Champions League (109) and most goals in international football (152).