Soccer
Martin O’Neill is confident Celtic will make additions to their squad ahead of their Scottish Premiership title defence, following a frustrating start to the transfer window.
O’Neill was handed the Celtic job on a permanent basis after returning for a third stint, and his second as interim head coach, following Wilfried Nancy’s dismissal in January.
He led them to a dramatic Premiership success, via a 3-1 final-day win over Hearts, his fourth title win with the club after also claiming the trophy in 2000-01, 2001-02 and 2003-04.
But Celtic’s transfer dealings ahead of 2026-27 have caused some unease, with their only signing to date seeing Colombian striker Camilo Duran join from Qarabag.
They have sold Luis Palma and Maik Nawrocki to Lech Poznan and Lens, respectively, while failing to make Marcelo Saracchi’s loan move from Boca Juniors permanent and seeing Kelechi Iheanacho join Bursaspor on a free transfer.
But O’Neil is confident reinforcements will arrive, saying: “We will bolster the squad.
“We are making some progress. We’ll hopefully see a couple of new faces by the time that we kick the season off.”
It ends even at Celtic Park#CelticMiddlesbrough | #CelticFC pic.twitter.com/KSfyheJE0D
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) July 18, 2026
The loss of Iheanacho could come as a particular blow, after the former Manchester City striker scored five goals in just 13 league outings for the club.
O’Neill had expected to keep the Nigerian, saying: “We thought we had a deal with Iheanacho, and it didn’t go through. It was something we thought we had sorted out.
“There are two sides to every particular transfer as there is to every story. I thought we had a deal with him, but seemingly that wasn’t the case and so he’s gone to pastures new.”
Celtic drew 1-1 with Middlesbrough in a pre-season friendly on Saturday, with a clash against AC Milan to come next weekend ahead of the start of their domestic season on August 3.
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