Celtic's Transfer Challenges and O’Neill's Champions League Return
Martin O’Neill admits he wanted Engels on the pitch for Celtic’s Champions League play-off – but accepts why the midfielder has stepped away.
The 74-year-old revealed Engels chose not to feature, wary of picking up an injury with a move on the horizon.
“He didn’t want to play in the matches in case he got injured,” O’Neill explained, calling the stance understandable, even if it leaves Celtic light in a key area at a crucial moment.
Midfield gap and transfer scramble
Engels’ decision has pushed Celtic into a late-window search for reinforcements. O’Neill did not dress it up: the club have been trying, and so far, they have come up short.
“We’re still in the process of trying to do that. We haven’t been able to get someone in, in time, to do that,” he said. “But there are a number of players that we’re looking at and hopefully we will by the end of the transfer window.”
The clock is ticking, but O’Neill is clear about the bigger picture. For him, the real prize is not the Champions League jackpot, but the stage itself.
The money matters, of course – it always does – yet he framed it as a means to an end. The financial boost, he believes, would allow Celtic to bring in more quality before the group phase and build a squad that can stay there.
Hatate interest and a possible revival
Reo Hatate is another name in the transfer conversation. O’Neill confirmed there has been interest in the Japanese midfielder, though nothing concrete yet.
“But I don’t think there’s been anything definitive,” he said. “That may well happen in the next week.”
If Hatate stays, O’Neill would welcome the challenge he sets himself. Two seasons ago, Hatate was, in his manager’s words, “one of best midfielders in Scotland”. O’Neill would happily see him stay and fight to rediscover that level.
There is no sense of pushing him out the door. If anything, the door is open for a resurgence.
Respect for LASK and the scale of the task
All of that sits in the background of a tie O’Neill plainly respects. Austrian champions LASK are not being taken lightly.
He called them a “very fine side” and expects a “very, very difficult” contest. Celtic have done their homework – multiple viewings, live scouting, detailed reports – and the picture is clear.
“They are very fast up front as well, lots of good players on the side. And they’re very, very strong. Physically strong as well,” O’Neill said.
A first-leg advantage at home would be “lovely”, as he put it, but he refused to frame it as make-or-break. If Celtic do not take a lead to Austria, the tie is not dead. The message is calm: control what you can, handle what you can’t.
O’Neill’s Champions League return
For O’Neill, this is more than another assignment on the touchline. It is his first Champions League tie in over 20 years, a return he did not see coming.
“I didn’t think last September or October I’d be sitting here thinking about a Champions League game. If I was, I’d certainly be watching it on TV,” he admitted.
Now he is back in the thick of it, and he sounds genuinely energised by the scale of the challenge.
“There are challenges in this Champions League. You could get nothing else but excited about it, which is fantastic, especially at my age.”
The veteran manager insists Celtic are “ready for the challenge”, and he has placed the responsibility squarely on the players.
“It’s up to the players now as much as anything else. I think the quality that we brought in will bear fruit during the course of the season.”
Old rivalry waits in the wings
Looming beyond Europe is a familiar domestic flashpoint. Celtic have been drawn away to Rangers in the League Cup quarter-finals.
O’Neill did not dwell on it. He knows what that fixture means, but he also knows it can wait.
“I’m looking forward to it when it comes to it,” he said. “Naturally, the concentration is totally in these two games. But it is what it is. We’re drawn away from home again.”
For now, the focus is clear: patch up the midfield, navigate a bruising tie with LASK, and turn a late-career Champions League return into something more than a nostalgic cameo.
