O'Neill confident Celtic signings will arrive
Martin O'Neill is confident Celtic will make additions to its squad ahead of its Scottish Premiership title defence after a so-far 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, after Wilfried Nancy's dismissal in January.
He led the Hoops 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 2000-2001, 2001-2002 and 2003-2004.
But Celtic's transfer dealings ahead of 2026-2027 have caused some unease, with its only signing to date seeing Colombian striker Camilo Duran join from Qarabag.
It has 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."
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 Sunday (AEST), with a clash against AC Milan to come next weekend ahead of the start of its domestic season against Dundee on 4 August (AEST).
