Work to be done on Iheanacho and Saracchi deals, admits Celtic boss | OneFootball

Celtic boss Martin O’Neill has admitted there is still a considerable amount of work to be done in any potential deals for Kelechi Iheanacho and Marcelo Saracchi…

23rd May 2026; Hampden Park, Scottish Cup Final, Celtic versus Dunfermline; Kelechi Iheanacho of Celtic celebrates after he rounds Aston Oxborough of Dunfermline Athletic and shoots and scores to make it 3-0 in the 73rd minute. Photo Vagelis Georgariou

Both players were pivotal in bringing the Bhoys back from the brink and winning silverware last year and O’Neill has made no secret now that he would like to bring them home to Paradise again.

The Irishman revealed after his side’s 1-1 pre-season friendly match with Dublin side Shelbourne, that he was eager for the Nigerian striker and Uruguayan defender to rejoin the ranks for the challenges that lie in wait next term.

The Hoops will face a resurgent Hearts and Rangers again this year and former captain Scott Brown has already confessed he sees it being a three-way title fight again, in what will be delightful news for the SPFL chiefs and our broadcaster Sky Sports.

The Bhoys came within an inch of losing their perennial title-winner status to Heart of Midlothian on the final day, had it not been for another Martin O’Neill masterclass, when he totally outfoxed new Ibrox incumbent Derek McInnes, leaving the whole of Scottish football and the wider mainstream media with egg all over their faces’ – winning 3-1 to clinch it in the most dramatic of fashion.

Now that the dust has settled and the champagne has been popped and consumed, it is back to business as usual this summer. The club have to furnish the manager with some serious quality and provide him with major backing, as he aims to maintain our stranglehold on domestic football, whilst making inroads in Europe too.

After signing up Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain on an extended one-year deal, O’Neill has added lethal Colombian forward, Camilo Duran to the ranks, in a major coup for the club.

However, The Saint is eager to bring back Kelechi Iheanacho and Marcelo Saracchi to Celtic Park, after both men played vital roles in our scarcely believable winning streak towards the end of last season in Scotland.

Speaking on both Kelechi and Marcelo recently, the Celtic manager said: “Michael Nicholson has spoken to Iheanacho’s agent at this minute. And I think it’s the same with Saracchi.

“I think both of them would like to come back, given the circumstances. Then it’s up to us to try and see if there are deals to be done. I would like to take them, but I think there’s a bit of work to be done,” he added via Glasgow Times.

Here we have two players desperate to return to Celtic, the manager wants them, one is a free agent the other unwanted by his club, yet it’s still difficult to get these deals over the line. Maybe the problem is at Celtic?

Paul Gillespie

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