Celtic are expected to be active in January as they look to rejuvenate their title push

Celtic boss Martin O’Neill is hoping to bring at least two players to the football club during the January transfer window to boost his side’s hopes of defending the Scottish Premiership title.

The Hoops, who have been crowned champions in the last four seasons, have underperformed throughout the season but returned to winning ways last time out, with O’Neill kicking off his third stint in charge with a commanding 4-0 victory over Dundee United to remind everyone in the division that the Hoops mean business. O’Neill is in charge until the end of the season after Wilfried Nancy’s 33-day stint in charge, and claims that he’ll only make subtle changes to the team when that thrived under Brendan Rodgers last season in terms of tactics.

However, he’s not ruled out the prospect of bringing in fresh faces as he oversees his first transfer window at Parkhead in more than 21 years after leaving for the first time at the end of the 2004/05 campaign.

O’Neill is working hard to make signings

Football Insider explains that O’Neill is after two top-class signings this month. He wants a midfielder and a striker to address what he feels are his side’s two main problem positions this month.

So far the Hoops have made one signing in the form of Julian Araujo from Bournemouth. The 16-time Mexican international signed for the Cherries in 2024 but has only made 14 appearances in total across all competitions. He’s previously been on the books at Barcelona as a utility player and was a stalwart in the team at LA Galaxy before that.

“The recruitment team at Celtic are working overtime to try and bring in fresh blood to try and inject some impetus into that Celtic team right now,” explains reporter Pete O'Rourke.

The transfer guru adds: “He [O’Neill] will be hoping that he will get the backing from the board. They obviously have come in for bit of criticism from fans for not putting their hands in the pockets and making too many signings for Celtic. So yeah, it’s a huge window for Celtic.

“They need to make signings and some top class signings as well just to improve that squad if they are to have any chance of catching hearts at the top of the table.”

Celtic face Falkirk in their next league match on Wednesday evening before turning their focus to a David vs Goliath cup-tie against lower league Auchinleck Talbot before then facing Bologna in Europe. The Hoops then face arguably their biggest challenge yet under O’Neill by taking on Hearts at Tynecastle at the end of the month.