O’Neill revealed he wants plenty of reinforcements this month at his first press conference since his return

16:59, 06 Jan 2026Updated 19:26, 06 Jan 2026

(Image: SNS Group)

Martin O’Neill is hoping Daizen Maeda remains at Celtic beyond the January transfer window – after revealing the attacker missed out on a big money move to the Bundesliga in the summer.

The returning Hoops boss is looking to bolster his squad for the sprint to the Premiership finishing line. And he admitted he’d love to have Maeda available for the rest of the campaign.

O’Neill let it slip German big guns Wolfsburg were on the verge of landing the Japanese ace – only for Celtic to pull the plug in the final days of the shambles summer window.

Wolfsburg are still in the market for a wide man having spent £13m on frontman Mohamed Amoura from Union Berlin in July and could come back in this month, with interest also from clubs in England. But O’Neill said: “I don’t know what has happened since, and I don’t know, so there’s little point in me saying, oh, he’s really happy, he wants to stay here, and then tomorrow morning he’s gone, or something like that.

“I don’t know, I’ll have a word, or find out what he’s thinking, even if it’s through his agent, or whatever the case may be. I think there was a bit of disappointment with him, because the move didn’t go through, I think it was to Wolfsburg, in August time?

“But he’s got going, he’s got going again. If you’re asking me, I’d love him to stay, it’d be actually really important for him to stay, if that’s the case, but I genuinely don’t know what is happening there, by our next press conference, I’ll be able to tell you.”

Celtic’s Daizen Maeda was targetted.(Image: SNS Group)

As far as incomings are concerned, O’Neill made it clear he does want reinforcements this month. The Hoops are also said to be closing in on Jocelin Ta Bi, with Foot Mercato reporting Celtic medical staff are in Israel to put him through a medical ahead of a £2.6m deal.

They’ve already brought in right-back Julian Araujo on loan from Bournemouth and O’Neill said: “We definitely need to supplement the squad, no questions about that. Shaun has been working in the background on certain things, getting to know some players. Eventually, I’d like to be sitting here saying ‘all these players are my choice’. I don’t have a great deal of time. Before, I’d be able to run the rule over players. Here, I will rely on Shaun, Mark and Stephen for the opinion on players, but eventually it will be down to me. If they don’t do well, I will blame Shaun!

“I didn’t know anything about the lad who joined from Bournemouth (Julian Araujo). That’s up to him to prove himself now. He hasn’t played much football. I’ll reiterate, we need the players in and as quickly as possible

“I would hope (it will be a busy window). But if the board were to listen to me, we’d have 56 players. You’ll be aware of what positions we need to strengthen in, and that’s what we’ll try and do. It’s a difficult window in terms of buying players.”

Asked if he was confident there would be funds available, he continued: “Of course, if you could sign the players you want to have it’d be great but it doesn’t work like that. Now, we’re in a bit of difficulty. We have to fight back. I think we’re all aware that the squad needs strengthening if we can do. We might bring in some players that may not be that much better, but that’s up to us.

“If we can get a few people in, I think the squad will benefit. If you sign an extra midfield player, it’s nice to have extra competition for places. It’s no excuse, but we’ve had long-term injuries to players. I was quickly speaking to the medical staff, I don’t see a quick return for any of the lads who have been out for a while. Johnston thinks he’ll be back by March.”

O’Neill will need all hands on deck but he admitted there’s not much optimism over Celtic’s long term injury list.

Cameron Carter-Vickers and youngster Callum Osmand won’t feature this season while Jota remains several months off a return following his cruciate injury last May and full back Alistair Johnston is out to March at the earliest.

O’Neill said: “It’s no excuse, but we’ve had the injuries, the long-term injuries to the players, and I don’t see, I was quickly speaking to the medical staff, I don’t see an imminent return for any of the long-term boys now, for a while Alistair thinks he might be back, maybe in March time, which is good news, if that’s the case, March is a long time, a long time for me, so I don’t have that time.”