Celtic's Transfer Market Stance Ahead of Champions League Clash

Martin O’Neill is not expecting any late drama in the transfer market before Celtic step into Champions League territory against LASK on Wednesday – and he insists he is more than comfortable if Reo Hatate stays to fight for his place.

The play-off first leg at Celtic Park looms, the deadline ticks down on Tuesday night, and the manager’s message is blunt. Asked if anyone new would arrive in time, O’Neill said there was a “fairly decent chance of nothing happening.”

That stance comes despite the weekend sale of Arne Engels to West Ham, a departure that leaves a sizeable gap in Celtic’s midfield engine room just as the Austrians arrive. O’Neill admitted the club are “still in the process of finding a replacement” and conceded it will be “hard to replace his running power” against LASK.

New faces have already walked through the door this summer. Camilo Duran and Kasper Hogh have hit the ground running, while Mika Baur and Haissem Hassan are only just bedding in. The first glimpse of Baur came in Sunday’s 4-0 win at Dundee United, when the German was introduced on 59 minutes.

That cameo may quickly turn into a starting role.

With Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain suspended and Hatate yet to play a single minute this season, O’Neill hinted Baur could be thrust straight into the Champions League spotlight.

“It would have been nice to have kept Arne for the couple of games, because he knows the players, knows his role in the team,” O’Neill said. “But it’s not to be. We’ll have someone else in there. It might be Baur, I’m not sure yet. He’s just getting to know the team.”

Hatate remains the other obvious option in the middle of the park, but his situation underlines the shifting landscape at Celtic. The Japan international has been an unused substitute in every game so far this term and has not started since a 2-0 defeat at Dundee United in April.

Now 28 and two years into his Celtic career, with two more left on his contract, Hatate’s honours list in Glasgow is formidable: five league titles, three Scottish Cups and two League Cups. The problem, as O’Neill sees it, is the recent level of performance.

“It’s been a bit of a struggle for him [of late],” the manager admitted. “What I would love Reo to do is get back to the form he showed a couple of years ago when he was one of the best players in Scotland.”

There have been transfer enquiries. Nothing concrete yet, nothing that forces a decision. That may change before the window closes, but O’Neill is clear: he will not push Hatate out of the door.

“There have been [transfer] enquiries, but nothing definitive. That may well happen,” he said. “If Reo wants to stay and battle for his place in the team and says he’s capable of doing it, I have no problem with that.”

So Celtic head into a pivotal European night with the squad largely as it is, the midfield reshaped by Engels’ exit, and a choice to make between a newly-arrived German and a decorated Japan international searching for his old spark.

The deadline clock is ticking. O’Neill, though, seems ready to go with what he has.