Martin O’Neill satisfied with Celtic signings

Martin O’Neill declared himself happy with Celtic’s transfer business following their late flurry of signings.

Six of Celtic’s ten summer signings arrived in the final 48 hours of the window.

Dutch midfielder Joel van den Berg signed from PSV Eindhoven, and Swiss right-back Jordan Lotomba from Feyenoord just before the UEFA registration deadline on Wednesday night.

Celtic earlier completed loan deals for Wolves goalkeeper Sam Johnstone, Parma midfielder Oliver Sorensen, and 18-year-old Chelsea pair Shim Mheuka and Landon Emenalo.

The Chelsea players and Van den Berg did not make Celtic’s Europa League squad because of limited spaces.

“I’m delighted to get players,” O’Neill said. “Genuinely pleased.

“The difficulty is that you only have to look at the UEFA list. Some young lads will be disappointed not being able to make that particular UEFA squad. So there’s only so many places that we could fill.

“If we can avoid serious injury to the players here, people not being out for endless lengths of time, then I’m happy with it.”

While Celtic’s Premiership rivals had done the bulk of their business ahead of the final week, the champions were still looking to plug obvious gaps, such as a back-up to injured left-back Kieran Tierney after going out of the Champions League.

When asked what lessons could be learned about the timing, O’Neill said: “How many times are you going to ask me that each week? We started this in July time. So I’m pleased with the players that we’ve got in.

“We’ve got them in, and I genuinely want to get on with it now. So, ideally, it would be great to have got players in earlier to get them bedded in. It doesn’t matter. Happy, really happy to have the players that we have.”

When asked if he was disappointed not to land Torino midfielder Gvidas Gineitis, the 74-year-old said: “No, I’m really pleased with what we have now at this minute. So, honestly, not a problem.”

As well as the four loan players, Lotomba has only signed until the end of the season.

“I sometimes concern myself about loan players coming in and maybe not seeing the club that they’re going to as the club that they really want to play for,” said O’Neill, who will again be without Tierney and Kasper Hogh against St Mirren on Saturday.

“But I’ve also had loans of players who have loved the football club. For instance, Julian Araujo took the club to heart last season and that was great. Honestly, he would have done anything for the club. So, from that viewpoint, you’re never sure.

“Loans are sometimes a bit of a concern, but it depends on the player.”