Latest Update On The Future Of This 29-Year-Old Celtic Player: Are The Club Right With Their Decision? | OneFootball

Celtic sit third in the Scottish Premiership heading into the final six games of the 2025/26 season, three points behind leaders Hearts and two adrift of Rangers in one of the closest title races Scottish football has seen in decades. Hearts are bidding to become the first non-Old Firm side to win the title in 41 years, and the campaign culminates on 16 May when Celtic host the Edinburgh club in what could be a last-day decider at Celtic Park. Under manager Martin O’Neill, the defending champions have fought through inconsistency, managerial change, and a brutal fixture run to remain in contention, and the stakes are massive as the split approaches.

With the pressure mounting, Keith Wyness, former chief executive of Aberdeen, Everton, and Aston Villa, and now a football consultancy adviser to elite clubs, told Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast that Kelechi Iheanacho’s contract situation at Celtic depends entirely on what happens over the next few weeks.

What did Wyness say?

Wyness argued that the club will simply wait and see how Iheanacho finishes the campaign before making any decision, and that a string of crucial goals in big matches would earn the Nigerian striker another year at Parkhead. Wyness stated that if Iheanacho fails to deliver, he will leave as a free agent when his deal expires this summer.

“It will all depend on whether Celtic can come back and win the title. To me, that decision’s pretty clear.

“They’re going to wait until they see how he finishes the season. If he scores some crucial goals in big games coming up in the last six games, and he helps win the title, they’ll reward him with another year.

“If they don’t, he’s gone. To me, that’s the way they’re going to look at it, and the pressure’s on him now to do that.

“These games are pretty big ones coming up. Celtic are still only three points off the pace. It’s still a three-way race. Rangers and Hearts are level almost. So look, it’s exciting, but Celtic are still in with the shout, and Iheanacho has to show that he can be the crucial X factor.

“And it’s up to him now, and he’ll be rewarded with an extra year if he can get these goals in these next few games.”

Iheanacho signed for Celtic on a one-year contract in September 2025, with the club holding an option for a further year. His numbers in the Premiership this season have been modest rather than eye-catching, as he has scored two goals in six Scottish Premiership appearances, averaging 0.53 goals per 90 minutes, which places him 12th among Premiership players who have featured in at least three matches.

Yet moments of real impact have arrived at the right times. He came off the bench to score a late winner at Dundee on 5 April, keeping Celtic firmly in the title hunt. Across all competitions this season, FotMob records him at three Premiership goals in 349 minutes, carrying an average match rating of 6.96.

Are Celtic Right to Make Iheanacho Prove His Worth in Six Games?

BRENTFORD, ENGLAND – MAY 31: Kelechi Iheanacho of Nigeria during the Unity Cup Final match between Jamaica and Nigeria at Gtech Community Stadium on May 31, 2025 in Brentford, England. (Photo by Harry Murphy/Getty Images)

Celtic’s approach here is entirely rational, but it shows a cold side that the club do not always acknowledge openly. Iheanacho arrived as a depth signing, not a marquee centre-forward, and the expectation was always that he would provide experienced cover rather than lead the line through a title run-in. Holding his future over him at this particular stage feels less like smart squad management and more like a club that never fully committed to the player in the first place.

Six games are a brutally short window to judge a striker who has been used largely as an impact substitute, and goals that prove decisive in a title race often come down to luck and timing as much as individual quality. That said, the late winner at Dundee showed that Iheanacho still carries the composure and game-reading sense that made him such a threat at Leicester, and at 29, he is not a player in steep decline.

If Celtic do win this title, there is a strong argument that retaining him at a modest wage makes sense as reliable cover. But if the Hoops fall short, they will likely spend that money somewhere else entirely, and Iheanacho, for all his experience, will find himself facing another free transfer in a career that has already had too many of them.