Martin O'Neill anticipates Celtic will be active in the transfer market in the next five days, aiming to strengthen the squad for their Europa League campaign despite missing out on Champions League qualification. The club's transfer window business is ongoing, with O'Neill keen to add quality before the deadline on Thursday.
"I honestly think that is the club’s aim," O'Neill stated. "We’ve brought in a couple of players that I think will do really fine for us. I’m hoping that there’s an opportunity before the transfer deadline to make the squad stronger, to make it better. And to compete in European football, you need that."
O'Neill identified key areas for reinforcement, noting the need for a left-back to provide cover for Kieran Tierney and a strong, box-to-box midfielder to replace Arne Engels. "You would be definitely looking for a left-back for [cover for] Kieran [Tierney], because Kieran’s not going to, with the greatest respect, play all the games at the end of the day. You’d need probably need a really strong replacement for Arne Engels, a box-to-box midfield player. We definitely just would need strengthening and that’s what we’re going to try and do."
Despite the disappointment of exiting the Champions League qualifiers, O'Neill acknowledged the challenge ahead in the Europa League. Celtic have been drawn against Marseille, Celta Vigo, Besiktas, and Ferencvaros at home, and will travel to face Benfica, Union Saint-Gilloise, Omonia, and Torreense. The manager reflected on the difficulty of the task, comparing it to their Europa League run last season, where they reached the knockout stage with 11 points.
"I probably still haven’t got over the game on Tuesday night, but it’s something to look forward to, I must admit," O'Neill said. "There are some really good games there."
O'Neill also urged his players to demonstrate character in upcoming matches, emphasizing that past successes should not lead to complacency. "I know it’s an overused word, but we have to show a lot of character," he added. "There’ll be moments in the game, misplaced passes, allowing Falkirk in, shots at goal, maybe even going a goal behind in the game where the crowd would want to get really restless. Absolutely, so we have to fight that. But that’s always been the case. And do you know what? I wouldn’t expect it to. 'We can’t live on laurels for the rest of our time. Last season was just fantastic, great moments, but it’s gone."
Callum McGregor is expected to be available for the match against Falkirk, having missed training due to illness.