CELTIC'S dogged refusal to allow the transfer window to close without the addition of a striker paid off late last night when they landed Stefan Scepovic.

But they fear they have just missed out on capturing Manchester City's John Guidetti. They will find out later today if they managed to secure the Swedish hitman on a season-long loan. Well after the 11pm deadline, the Hoops were still trying to complete the transfer.

However, while the player and Celtic were keen to go ahead, a hold up at the Manchester end delayed matters. This meant they could not get all the paperwork lodged in time.

Celtic are clinging to the hope the SFA will be able to make a case to Fifa for an extension, but the odds are very much against this being granted. This was the one disappointment on a final day which saw the on-off chase for Scepovic finally conclude with the Serbian putting pen to paper on a four-year deal, with the Hoops paying Sporting Gijon £2.3million.

The 24-year-old will now be included in the 25-strong squad Celtic must register today for the group stage of the Europa League.

It was a frantic final few hours of the window for the Scottish champions, who had appeared resigned to missing out on Scepovic just 24 hours earlier after he did a U-turn on his agreement to move from the Spanish Second Division club.

Celtic maintained the player always wanted to join them, but cited third-party ownership as the reason all their hard work, which included obtaining a work permit for the striker, had been usurped. Getafe appeared to be offering Scepovic the opportunity to remain in Spain.

But, problems over the the number of non-EU players already in their squad saw that offer withdrawn, at which point Celtic were contacted to see if they were still willing to take the player.

Manager Ronny Deila is convinced it will all prove to have been worthwhile as he considers Scepovic to have all the attributes he wants in the man who will lead his attack.

Not content with this important acquisition, the Hoops went all out to land the bonus of also acquiring 22 year-old Guidetti, who is in the final year of his contract with Manchester City.

Just as important for Deila was Celtic's resolve to retain Virgil van Dijk, despite last-gasp bids to lure the defender south.

Van Dijk's promotion to the Dutch squad for their matches against Italy and the Czech Republic - he received his long-overdue call up from new boss, Guus Hiddink - has only served to increase his value. But, even with Arsenal reported to have joined Sunderland and Southampton among the clubs trying to persuade Celtic to sell, no bid high enough to encourage the Parkhead club to allow him to leave was forthcoming.

Kris Commons is also still at the club, despite speculation he might be on his way back south, and talks over a new contract are scheduled for later this week.

The Hoops did use the final day of the window to allow a clutch of fringe players to move out.

Jackson Irvine joined managerless Ross County, while Dylan McGeouch signed for Hibs, both for the rest of the season.

Holmbert Fridjonsson and Teemu Pukki joined Brondby in Denmark on the same basis, and Amido Balde accepted the chance to move to Beveren in Belgium until next summer.

Deila has made it clear he wants a different type of striker - what he referred to as: "More of a No.9. We need a target player who is good at winning crosses" - to fit in with the system he wants to play. Scepovic ticks those boxes.

But Guidetti insisted he was keen to fight for the chance to prove he should also be part of the starting XI. In the final few weeks of this window he was the subject of serious enquiries from Feyenoord and Ajax.

Palermo were also tracking him, while Fiorentina were discussing taking Guidetti to Serie A in a £2.5m transfer.

Celtic had been keeping tabs on the Swede for the past three years, and, when it became clear he was not going to Holland or Italy, finally made their move. Unfortunately, it appears they simply ran out of time.

There was good news for Deila, however, when Southampton paid £10m to sign Salzburg winger, Sadio Mane. The Austrian club are the Hoops' first opponents in the Europa League group stage on September 18.