Manchester City defender set to stay on loan despite early fitness and playing struggles | OneFootball

Manchester City loanee Jahmai Simpson-Pusey is set to stay at Celtic beyond the 2026 January transfer window despite his early struggles in Scotland, as per a new report.

Simpson-Pusey was one of several academy stars sent on season-long loans by Manchester City in the recent window, with newly-appointed director of football Hugo Viana marking his arrival to England with a sliding doors window.

City parted ways with an array of senior stars in the window to make space for seven new signings – who have all, with the exception of Sverre Nypan, who is on loan at Middlesbrough – been integrated into Pep Guardiola’s first-team setup.

Viana conducted a thorough audit of Manchester City’s lacklustre squad upon his arrival and signed off on a series of exits to trim the wage bill and streamline Guardiola’s squad to accommodate the manager’s request to work with a cutthroat group of players.

City are undergoing a period of transition on the pitch and have leaned heavily on academy graduates to lead the way in the last few months – during which the pair of Nico O’Reilly and Rico Lewis have signed new, long-term deals.

Oscar Bobb is also staking a claim to establish himself as a regular feature on the wings, with James Trafford also brought back to Manchester City for £27 million after two seasons spent at Burnley by the 22-year-old England international.

Divine Mukasa is the latest promising academy graduate on the brink of a permanent place in the first-team squad as Manchester City look to give Erling Haaland a helping hand in attack after Julian Alvarez’s £82 million departure to Atletico Madrid last summer.

Despite impressing in bits and pieces in the senior side in the last few seasons, it was deemed that Jahmai Simpson-Pusey’s short-term development would be best served by a season on loan away from the Etihad Stadium as the 18-year-old joined Celtic in August.

However, Simpson-Pusey’s loan stint in the Scottish Premiership has not gone to plan so far, with the Manchester City man regularly excluded from matchday squads since his arrival to Celtic, which has primarily been put down to fitness issues in a new report by Mark Hendry writing for Celts Are Here.

The English teenager is yet to establish himself in Scotland and his early struggles have raised concerns over the future of his loan – and whether Manchester City could look to recall their academy star back to England in January 2026.

However, the report cites a source at the Etihad Stadium who has confirmed that Manchester City have no plans to recall Simpson-Pusey to his parent club in January, with a firm belief that he will begin to get minutes after the October international break.

Manchester City will be closely monitoring Simpson-Pusey’s progress at Parkhead after his dormant start to life on loan, though it is likely that the young centre-half will start to impress when he proves he is match-fit and gets a regular run of games under his belt.