Hibs signed a total of 13 players before and during the current 2024/25 season.
David Gray was installed as the Leith club’s head coach last summer and set about stamping his own authority on the first-team squad.
The Hibs manager then promised fans there would be some January recruitment, although it turned out to be rather disappointing as they only signed Alasana Manneh from Odense Boldklub.
One of Hibs’ signings this season could actually have been Luke McCowan. The Edinburgh side posed a keen interest in the midfielder last summer after a stellar 2023/24 campaign at Dundee.
Ex-Jambos sporting director Joe Savage revealed Hearts were also monitoring McCowan, but did not seriously pursue his signature when interest from Celtic ramped up.
McNamara on Hibs interest in Luke McCowan
In the end, Celtic signed the 27-year-old from Dundee with Hibs missing out. Former Scotland right-back and now agent Jackie McNamara recently revealed he dealt with McCowan’s deal to Parkhead.
And he confirmed on Open Goal that Hibs were indeed in for McCowan, but Celtic always had the edge on them.
McNamara revealed: “We did Luke McCowan in the summer. We’ve been looking after Luke since he was at Ayr years ago.
“It was good because I took him to one of the Champions League games years ago and said, ‘you could play at this level’.
“Obviously he then went to Dundee and done well at Dundee and then in the summer he moved.”
Host Si Ferry then asked how close Hibs were to signing McCowan last summer. McNamara replied: “Erm, Hibs were obviously in for him but Celtic were sort of wanting him as well. But there was nothing done at the time or anything, it was all last minute.
“So for him, it was the same when I was a wee boy leaving Dunfermline, to go to Celtic in the last minute of the window.”
Hibs got their midfielder in January
McCowan would have been Hibs’ final signing of last summer’s transfer window if they managed to get a deal done.
However, when McCowan knew of strong interest from Celtic – by far the richest club in Scotland – the outcome was always going to be inevitable.
As revealed by Not The Old Firm, Hibs wanted to recruit a midfielder when the January window rolled around, as well as a new goalkeeper and striker.
They did not manage the latter two, perhaps due to financial constraints after Hibs posted whopping losses of £7.2m in the year up to June 2024.
Alasana Manneh was the McCowan alternative signed last month as the 26-year-old joined for an undisclosed fee on a three-and-a-half year contract.