“Quality at the affordable prices is a real premium,” Martin O’Neill | OneFootball

Martin O’Neill spoke to the mainstream media after Celtic’s 2-2 draw with AC Milan at Celtic Park in the club’s final pre-season match before the season starts a week on Monday with a visit to Paradise from Dundee on Flag Day…

Celtic manager Martin O’Neill arrives at the ground ahead of kick off in the Celtic v AC Milan in a pre-season friendly at Celtic Park on July 25, 2026. (Photo by WM Sport Media/Getty Images)

Q: How beneficial do you feel that was, nine days out from the start of the league season?

Martin O’Neill: “In terms of a pre-season game, I really enjoyed it. I thought we did some really good things in the game. Just a little spell after half-time where we lost a bit of concentration. But overall, it was a great workout for us. It’s a pre-season game at the end.”

Camilo Duran of Celtic celebrates scoring opening goal with James Forrest to make it Celtic 1-0 AC Milan during the Celtic v AC Milan in a pre-season friendly at Celtic Park on July 25, 2026. (Photo by WM Sport Media/Getty Images)

Q: Another goal and an assist for Camilo Duran. How impressed have you been with him?

Martin O’Neill: “I think he’s a really good player. I think he’s a really good player. I think that if he stays clear of injury, I think he’ll be a big asset to us.”

Q: There’s also potentially another striker going to be joining him at the club, Kasper Hogh?

Martin O’Neill: “Yes, I’m hoping that that will happen. I think there’s a good chance of it. But until someone’s actually signed and sealed, there might be things still up in the air. But it’s certainly progressing.”

Q: What does the timeline look like? Have you got a medical booked for him?

Martin O’Neill: “Yes, apparently so. He will have one in the next 24 hours, I think.”

Q: In terms of other incomings, how many more would you like to have?

Martin O’Neill: “I don’t know numerically speaking. I think it’s quality that we’ll probably be looking for. And quality at the affordable prices is a real premium. But no, we are searching. We still think that we need some extra players in. But if he arrives, I think that’s great for us to begin with. And I’m hoping that we might get one or two more, if that’s the case. But there’s a good fight on now for places in the team. And we’ll just take it from there.”

Mika Baur of Germany in action during the UEFA Under21 EURO Qualifier between Germany U21 and Northern Ireland U21 at Eintracht Stadion on March 27, 2026 in Braunschweig, Germany. (Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)

Q: Mika Baur is another one that the club are interested in? Are Celtic expected to go back in for him?

Martin O’Neill: “That I genuinely can’t tell you. I genuinely cannot tell you at this minute. I’ve been preparing for this game. I’ll see where we are tomorrow and things. We’ve got a few other things in the pipeline that might come to fruition, which would be great for us.”

Q: Have you been anxious at all about the delay in the signings? You sat here last week and said you thought something would be done?

Martin O’Neill: “I just said that we were making good progress and I think we are. No, I’m genuinely not. I can remember the situation 25 years ago. So it’s not new to me in that sense. No, I’m not worried. I’ve got good faith in the people being able to get the players in.”

Q: The fee that’s been reported for Hogh would be a club record. Would that be a statement, do you think, if that does go through?

Martin O’Neill: “I think without going too deeply into it, that’s the calibre of player that we’d be looking for who has scored goals in the Champions League.”

Q: I know he’s not signed yet, but what can he offer aside from the goals and everything else?

Martin O’Neill:  “When he is signed, I’m going to tell you.”

Kasper Hogh of Bodo/Glimt celebrates scoring his team’s third goal during the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 Round of 16 First Leg match between FK Bodo/Glimt and Sporting Clube de Portugal at Aspmyra Stadion on March 11, 2026 in Bodo, Norway. (Photo by Martin Ole Wold/Getty Images)

Q: Do you think Hogh arriving will put minds at ease that you are looking at proper football signings?

Martin O’Neill:  “OK, do you think that that tension is promoted by some people? I’m hoping that players coming into the football club who are of some sort of substance, I think that would be the exciting thing for fans. I’m hoping that’s the case. Last season, I don’t know whether we found our way, but for most of the time that I was here, we struggled to score goals. We did get goals at a point, but when you’re sitting, when you don’t have a recognised striker in the team, I mean, Maeda came up brilliantly for us in the last six or seven weeks of the season, but we didn’t have that. So that would be a big plus for us if we can do that.

Daizen Maeda of Celtic looks on following the team’s victory in the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Heart of Midlothian at Celtic Park on May 16, 2026. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Q: How do you reflect on Daizen Maeda’s impact and how big a miss he’ll be?

Martin O’Neill:  “Yeah, naturally I will miss him. He was in his last year of his contract. The club, before I came here, the club made him a real big offer to stay at least 16 months ago. And the lad refused to do it in the sense that he wanted to play in the Premier League if he could, or the Bundesliga if that’s the case.

“So I will obviously miss him, but I’m delighted for him at the same time. Genuinely delighted for him. He deserves the move. I think I said this last year, whether I was going to be here or not, he deserves the move because he’s been fantastic for the club. And we will definitely miss him. We will just miss his presence around about the place.

“And I think Ipswich will be getting somebody that I think they will grow to really like. And I think that’s big for him. So he’s 28, 29 years of age. I’m not so sure that the money has been his driving force, but he will do really well. And that’s good news. And he deserves it. He deserves it. Every single penny of it.”

Thomas Hatton of Celtic in action against Celtic during Celtic v AC Milan in a pre-season friendly at Celtic Park on July 25, 2026. (Photo by WM Sport Media/Getty Images)

Q: What are the chances of some of the young players featuring when the season starts?

Martin O’Neill: “Thomas Hatton has been with us the whole pre-season. And same with Sean McArdle. I just congratulated Tam for his spell on the field. He’s prepared to take people on. I think that’s like a dying art, which is great. So he’ll get all the encouragement in the world. And now he’s a young lad making his way in the game. Obviously, a battle on to try and get him to the side like anything else. But I was really impressed with him. As I have been impressed with his attitude during the whole pre-season.”

Camilo Duran of Celtic in action during the Celtic v AC Milan match in a pre-season friendly at Celtic Park on July 25, 2026. (Photo by WM Sport Media/Getty Images)

Q: Can Duran and Hogh play together?

Martin O’Neill: “That’s a good point. I think that there’s no reason why they shouldn’t be able to do that. No reason. But I really do like Duran. I think he’s a fine player. He wants to do well. Really good attitude. Can close people down. I’m not saying he’s reached Maeda’s standard yet, but he’s doing fine. And he can get hold of the ball.

“So yeah, we need a few players in, in that position, which I think I’ve said to you. We’ve lost Maeda and there’s Callum Osmand. Iheanacho’s gone. So yeah, it would be nice to have them in.”

3rd May 2026; Easter Road, Edinburgh, Scotland: Scottish Premiership Football, Hibernian versus Celtic; Auston Trusty of Celtic

Q: You’ve not had some of your World Cup players. I’m thinking Trusty, Johnston, Yang and Nygren. What are their timelines? Are they going to be available for the first game of the season?

Martin O’Neill: “Trusty comes back on Monday. He’s had some family things, you know. I’ve given him a little bit of extra time, which I think he’s deserved. Nygren’s here at this minute. Didn’t play. He’s got a bit of an Achilles problem at the moment. I’m probably less concerned about those boys because they have played matches in the World Cup.

“Okay, so you take a little bit of a break. And the last thing you want to do is be rushing them back. Like Kieran Tierney plays for, what was it, 60 minutes today. And yeah, so it’s by Monday, I think that everybody will be back. Alistair, I was hoping that Alistair might have played maybe 20 minutes today. He was ready for it. I have to be guided. If anything happened to him, then I would get it in the neck from the sports science boys!”

Q: Is Yang back?

Martin O’Neill: “Yang’s back, yes. He’s done some training again. Just a little bit of a hiccup there a couple of days ago. But he’ll be fine. He’ll be fine. Be ready to go.”

Q: Are you eager to get another left back in?

Martin O’Neill: “Yeah, that’s it. Yeah, absolutely.

Q: Will Nygren’s issue keep him out?

Martin O’Neill: “I don’t think so. I think he’s been, I think he was okay. He played for Sweden in at least one of the games anyway. So I don’t think it’s massive.”

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