{"id":722206,"date":"2026-08-01T04:53:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T04:53:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/722206\/"},"modified":"2026-08-01T04:53:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T04:53:13","slug":"celtic-stars-feelings-on-transfer-exit-after-oneill-talks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/722206\/","title":{"rendered":"Celtic star’s feelings on transfer exit after O’Neill talks"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n Friday was no different, as he confirmed he wants to keep Alistair Johnston<\/a> and Arne Engels<\/a> at Celtic for next month’s crucial Champions League<\/a> playoff amid interest from England.\n<\/p>\n

\n \"MartinMartin O’Neill is gearing up for another season in charge of Celtic. (Image: Roddy Scott\/Shutterstock)\n<\/p>\n

\n “In an ideal world, I would love to do that,” O’Neill said. “But things can happen very, very quickly.\n<\/p>\n

\n “We’d like to have as strong a squad as possible for those Champions League<\/a> games.”\n<\/p>\n

\n Everton manager David Moyes phoned O’Neill to discuss interest in right-back Johnston, who impressed at the World Cup for Canada.\n<\/p>\n

\n The 27-year-old is contracted at Celtic Park<\/a> until the summer of 2029. O’Neill spoke to Johnston amid news of Everton’s pursuit.\n<\/p>\n

\n “I’ve spoken to him on the back of the interest,” the Celtic manager continued. “Again, it was one of those where Alistair is perfectly happy here at the football club.\n<\/p>\n

\n “But like anything else, your head can get turned very quickly, particularly if it’s a really good club.\n<\/p>\n

\n “He wouldn’t leave here for a second-class Premier League club, if there is such a thing, but if a big, big club comes in, it’s something you would have to look at. And I think it’s only natural as well. If I were a player, I’d be exactly the same.”\n<\/p>\n

\n Has Johnston expressed a desire to swap Glasgow for Merseyside?\n<\/p>\n

\n “Whether I like it or not, I bet you agents will be doing that, one way or the other,” O’Neill added. “That was amazing actually that David should actually speak to me, I think that’s only knowing each other for some time. He was preparing me that something might be happening.\n<\/p>\n

\n “They’ll [Everton] have done their homework. But I just felt when he was doing well at the World Cup that it meant he was over the injury he’d had.\n<\/p>\n

\n “We only had him at the back end of last season, and he showed how good he is \u2013 he did great. I shouldn’t really be surprised.”\n<\/p>\n

\n Nor should O’Neill be surprised at interest in Engels. The Belgian midfielder joined Celtic from Bundesliga club Augsburg two years ago for a then-record \u00a311 million transfer fee.\n<\/p>\n

\n The 22-year-old has since recorded 98 appearances in green-and-white hoops, winning two Scottish Premiership<\/a> titles, one Scottish Cup<\/a>, and one League Cup.\n<\/p>\n

\n Celtic rejected a bid in excess of \u00a325m from Nottingham Forest for Engels at the end of January.\n<\/p>\n

\n “I think there’s definitely truth in that,” O’Neill said of West Ham United’s interest in Engels. “I think there’s been something put in that hasn’t remotely made our valuation for a start.”\n<\/p>\n

\n Read more:\n<\/p>\n

\n Whether the London club return to the table with another offer remains to be seen. If he does eventually depart, as widely expected, Celtic, like Johnston, must find a suitable replacement.\n<\/p>\n

\n “That is the whole recruitment,” O’Neill explained. “If some good players go, you’re trying to replace them.\n<\/p>\n

\n “And in fairness to the recruitment side, they are very diligent. Seriously, they are.\n<\/p>\n

\n “There are options, some that might be well and truly beyond us, might be silly, there might be more interest in trying to keep a player here rather than develop the option.\n<\/p>\n

\n “We’re working with things. Some things we thought that we were well down the line with have been thwarted by things that were actually outside our control, believe it or not. I won’t go into detail.\n<\/p>\n

\n “There are a couple of things that are progressing pretty well as we speak.\n<\/p>\n

\n “But overall, the recruitment staff hand me information all of the time. It’s collaborative, whereas 25 years ago it wasn’t. I just did it myself.”\n<\/p>\n

\n Celtic have already spent the guts of \u00a317m on strike duo Camilo Duran and Kasper Hogh this summer. Yet O’Neill remains keen to strengthen his frontline beyond that.\n<\/p>\n

\n Frosinone winger Fares Ghedjemis has re-emerged as a target, after a January move to Glasgow’s East End collapsed.\n<\/p>\n

\n The Algerian international scored 15 goals and provided three assists in Italy’s Serie B last season.\n<\/p>\n

\n “We have a very, very strong interest in him,” O’Neill said. “I don’t know how close we can get, but we are genuinely making really good progress.\n<\/p>\n

\n Celtic have renewed their interest in Fares Ghedjemis. (Image: Getty)\n<\/p>\n

\n “I’ve got plenty of confidence that we can get the players in. We actually have spoken to other targets, yes. There is a definite strong willingness for players to want to come to the football club, which is very encouraging.\n<\/p>\n

\n “Some other ones who might be using you to try and force a move into the Premier League or something, fine. You can see through that quite quickly.\n<\/p>\n

\n “But at the end of it all, yes, I’m hopeful because I think there’s a strong willingness for deals to be done.”\n<\/p>\n

\n That willingness extends to the left-back position, where Celtic need cover for Kieran Tierney<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n

\n Marcelo Saracchi confirmed in a statement via Instagram that he would not return to Glasgow after his loan spell last season, but with a move to MLS side Houston Dynamo recently collapsing, O’Neill left the door ajar.\n<\/p>\n

\n “Kieran [Tierney] will be our first choice left back and we need someone to fill in the position,” he added. “I don\u2019t want to throw anything into the melting pot, but [Marcelo] Saracchi hasn\u2019t gone anywhere yet, has he? Well, there we go.”\n<\/p>\n

\n Celtic return to competitive action on Monday evening as they face Dundee in their Scottish Premiership<\/a> season opener.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Friday was no different, as he confirmed he wants to keep Alistair Johnston and Arne Engels at Celtic…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":722207,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[218,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-722206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-football","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/722206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=722206"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/722206\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/722207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=722206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=722206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=722206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}