Celtic's summer rebuild had been shaped as much by outgoings as incomings. Daizen Maeda departed for Ipswich Town, Luis Palma and Maik Nawrocki have moved on, while Kelechi Iheanacho left on a free and Kasper Schmeichel has retired.

Incoming business has ramped up in the latter stages of the window. Martin O'Neill has brought in Kasper Hogh, Mika Baur, Haissem Hassan and Camilo Duran to freshen up his squad, but with Hearts having pushed the Hoops all the way to the final day last season, there's still a sense that one more addition up top is needed to see off the challenge again in 2026/27.

For much of the window, that man looked set to be Fares Ghedjemis. The Frosinone winger, who became the first player in his club's history to feature at a World Cup, had been tracked by Celtic for months. But his stock has continued to rise, with Frosinone's valuation reportedly climbing as high as €20m (£17m), well beyond what Celtic have been willing to spend. Monaco even had a bid worth around €7m (£6m) plus add-ons knocked back, underlining just how unwilling Frosinone are to sell cheaply, and attention swiftly turned elsewhere.

That's where Claudio Braga comes in.

The Hearts forward took the Scottish Premiership by storm last season, being voted PFA Scotland Player of the Year, and with Hearts already having lost Lawrence Shankland and Cammy Devlin this summer, there's a growing expectation at Tynecastle that Braga could follow if the right offer lands. Hearts knocked back an approach of around £5m in January and are believed to want closer to £8-10m to sanction a sale now.

Now, though, comes a significant boost for Celtic's hopes. According to Friday's print edition of Portuguese outlet Record, Lyon - who are just a play-off away from Champions League football themselves under Paulo Fonseca - have dropped out of the race for Braga entirely.

It's a notable development given how the picture around the 26-year-old had been shaping up. Ipswich Town and Trabzonspor have also been credited with interest in Braga in recent weeks, but with Lyon now out of contention, Celtic's path to a deal suddenly looks far clearer.

Ipswich simply can't offer the pull of European football that Celtic can, while Trabzonspor's project is a considerably tougher sell for a player in their prime motivated by success rather than money. MLS clubs have also made contact, but again, that's unlikely to compete with regular continental football for a player at this stage of his career.

"I've been saying this a lot, it's any player's dream to play Champions League... I've dreamed of this since I was three or four. Every time I watched football, these were the games you wanted to watch." - Claudio Braga

It's easy to see why Celtic have been so persistent. Braga was one of the driving forces behind Hearts taking last season's title race to the very last day, finishing the campaign with a goal contribution rate that few outside Parkhead could match domestically, registering 14 goals and five assists in the Premiership.

He's previously admitted to having ambitions beyond Tynecastle, though only "if it's something good for me and for the club". With Lyon now removed from the equation and Celtic's need for attacking reinforcement clear after missing out on Ghedjemis, this represents arguably the best chance yet for O'Neill's side to land one of the standout performers from the team that pushed them hardest last term.