Why Premier League transfer talk around USMNT star Cameron Carter-Vickers faded as former Celtic centre-half sends spending warning to Bhoys

Southend native Carter-Vickers joined Spurs’ youth system at the age of 11 and displayed enough potential to feature in FA Cup and League Cup fixtures for the north London heavyweights. His path to regular first-team action did, however, remain blocked.

That led to several loan spells being taken in, with one of those taking him to Glasgow in 2020-21. Having impressed with the Hoops, a permanent £6 million ($8m) deal was struck. By that point, senior international recognition with the United States had already been earned.

The plan was to nail down regular roles with club and country. A positive start was enjoyed to that process, with the USMNT being represented at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar - having gone almost three years without winning a cap.

Performances for Celtic pushed Carter-Vickers back into that fold, with commanding displays showcasing the power and passion that he possesses. It did not take long for rumours of interest from the Premier League to surface.

No sale was sanctioned and the 28-year-old has found peak form and fitness harder to come by of late. He is not the only one to fall into that category, while many have been left wondering why the Hoops have resisted any urge to spend bigger on reinforcing their ranks and maintain what has often been a comfortable lead over Old Firm rivals Rangers.

Asked about Carter-Vickers and general goings on at ‘Paradise’, ex-Celtic star Stubbs - who was speaking in association with Gambler Media - told GOAL: “He's not performing at that level.

“I think last season there were very good parts of his game and again he got injured, which Celtic missed him when he wasn't in the team. He was a big loss. But I think if you look at Celtic at this moment in time, they're not performing anywhere near the level that, most importantly, the fans want to see.

“And I think that reflects the two Old Firm games recently that's just been played. Rangers have had a huge turnaround in terms of personnel. Celtic have had a few and brought in people. But for me, I think there's been a real drop-off in quality for Celtic.

“And they've had Rangers where they wanted them in terms of pushing forward and really stomping their authority. And for some reason, Celtic always just seem to spend, or are seeming to spend, just enough. And you wonder whether that just enough is going to come back and bite them on the backside.”

Celtic headed into the first international break of 2026-27 on the back of three successive defeats across all competitions. Two of those, in Premiership and Scottish League Cup action, came against arch-rivals Rangers - leading to pressure mounting on vastly-experienced head coach Martin O’Neill.

Carter-Vickers, who has fellow USMNT star Auston Trusty by his side, knows that a positive response is required by title holders in Glasgow when they return to the pitch on Sunday in an away date at Motherwell.