Martin O’Neill – Shim Mheuka has all attributes to be a ‘proper’ player | OneFootball

Martin O’Neill clearly knows a good centre forward when he sees one. Working with the likes of Henrik Larsson, John Hartson and Chris Sutton during his first spell at Celtic qualifies him to spot a top quality striker when he sees one…

5th September 2026; The Marbill Coaches Stadium, Paisley, Scotland; Scottish Premiership Football, St Mirren versus Celtic; Celtic manager Martin ONeill speaks to Celtic TV. Photo Vagelis Georgariou

So when the veteran Irishman talks up a player, you have no other option but to take his word on the matter.

18 year old Shim Mheuka who recently joined Celtic on a year long loan deal from Chelsea is a player who Martin reckons has all the attributes to go to the very top of the game.

The youngster introduced himself to the Celtic supporters from the bench against Aberdeen in midweek, and again in the 2-1 win over St Mirren on Saturday evening, scoring with a fine finish only to see it dubiously ruled out after a VAR fiasco which Willie Collum will have to explain on his VAR Review round-up this coming Friday.

5th September 2026; The Marbill Coaches Stadium, Paisley, Scottish Premiership , St Mirren versus Celtic; Referee Ryan Lee checks the VAR screen before ruling out Shim Mheuka of Celtic effort for

offside. Photo Vagelis Georgariou

The powerfully built youngster, also possess terrific technical ability, and knows the way to goal, so is very much a Martin O’Neill type of centre forward, and with a hectic run of games coming up, he could well get a chance to start in the midweek clash against St Johnstone in Perth.

Shumaira Mheuka celebrates after scoring a goal which was later disallowed during the Scottish Premiership match between St. Mirren and Celtic at St Mirren Park on September 05, 2026. (Photo by Zak Mauger/Getty Images)

Martin O’Neill is convinced that Mheuka is going to make a great impact in the game.

5th September 2026; The Marbill Coaches Stadium, Paisley, Scottish Premiership , St Mirren versus Celtic; Shim Mheuka of Celtic shoots past Jacob Chapman of St Mirren and scores in the 93rd minute with the referee checking the VAR screen and ruling the goal out due to offside. Photo Vagelis Georgariou

“He is, honestly,” the Celtic manager began at his post match media conference on Saturday evening. “He could be a proper player in time.”

5th September 2026; The Marbill Coaches Stadium, Paisley, Scottish Premiership, St Mirren versus Celtic; Shim Mheuka of Celtic. Photo Vagelis Georgariou

The Celtic boss also believes that the 18 year old could become a regular starter, reiterating his belief that he will learn more about his more inexperienced players when they’ve been thrown into the mix, and spoke about his pep talk with fellow new signing Mika Baur.

Mika Baur of Celtic runs with the ball under pressure from Calvin Ramsay of St. Mirren during the Scottish Premiership match between St. Mirren and Celtic at St Mirren Park on September 05, 2026 . (Photo by Zak Mauger/Getty Images)

“I could see him starting, very easily. This is the whole point, we’ve got a couple of players who deep down you don’t really know exactly what they can do. Of course, we’ve studied them, but we know more after they’ve been thrown into these games.

“I was speaking to wee Mika Baur afterwards and I said: ‘Mika, these games are hard.’ He’s played in the Bundesliga Second Division, he just got into the big league. Sometimes they don’t realise how hard they are. But Big Shim looks as if he wants to adjust to it.”

Shumaira Mheuka celebrates after scoring a goal which was later disallowed during the Scottish Premiership 2026/27 match between St. Mirren and Celtic at St Mirren Park on September 05, 2026. (Photo by Zak Mauger/Getty Images)

High praise indeed from a legend of the game, Martin O’Neill. We could be about to see much more of Shim Mheuka who is extremely highly rated at Chelsea and looks set to have a great career ahead of him.

Shumaira Mheuka of Celtic reacts during the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Aberdeen at Celtic Park on September 02, 2026. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

A year working with Martin O’Neill and playing for Celtic will help propel him forward to reach his own targets in the game. For us we look to have a huge talent on our hands, temporarily at least, so lets’s enjoy watching him in the Hoops while we can.

Just an Ordinary Bhoy

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