Concerned Charlie Nicholas believes Celtic's long and winding road towards appointing a permanent successor to Neil Lennon will cost them in the transfer market.
Ange Postecoglou has agreed terms and he will fly into Glasgow later this week after coaching his final match with current club Yokohama F Marinos.
But the former Australian national team boss faces 10 days in quarantine and won't be with the players when they return for pre-season on June 17.
Celtic are facing transfer upheaval with a host of their best players wanted elsewhere and Postecoglou also has the pursuit of a Champions League group stage place to worry about.
But former star Nicholas claims any chance of landing a free agent gem at now is out the window due to the protracted process to secure a new boss in the wake of the Eddie Howe saga.
Speaking in his Express column, he said: "Ange Postecoglou looks set to become Celtic manager - but how many top targets will he have missed out on by then?
"It has taken the Celtic hierarchy so long to get a new boss in place.
"We had the Eddie Howe disaster but now they look to be finally in a position to land Postecoglou.
"There is no doubt that Neil Lennon and Nicky Hammond would have put transfer targets in place before they departed.
"The issue is that for a lot of the better ones there will have been competition and if they are Bosmans chances are they will already have agreed deals.
"Postecoglou will also inherit a squad where Odsonne Edouard and Kris Ajer both want out and Olivier Ntcham will also be looking to engineer his exit.
"Celtic need to get on and make an appointment. Pre-season starts in a few weeks and Postecoglou will need to self-isolate before he can even get to work.
"I think a lot of Celtic fans are so disillusioned by what has happened they will just be pleased to see somebody in post."
