Celtic in 'worried' admission over Everton and West Ham United targets as selfish transfer stance declared

Martin O’Neill admits he was concerned over Alistair Johnston and Arne Engels’ mindsets in Celtic’s win over Dundee - as he provided a Hoops update on transfer interest.

The Premiership champions won 1-0 thanks to Benjamin Nygren’s header in the second half with Everton in the stands to scout Johnston. They are keen to sign the right-back and West Ham United have their eyes on midfielder Engels, both stars playing the duration of proceedings at Parkhead, as O’Neill started his second permanent tenure with a win.

Both players declared that they want to play the game but O’Neill did wonder where their heads would be amid the Everton and West Ham United interest. In the end he was happy with what they put into the game as Celtic handed debuts to new strikers Kasper Hogh and Camillo Duran.

Will Alistair Johnston and Arne Engels leave Celtic?

O’Neill said on keeping the Everton and West Ham United targets: "Ideally that would be brilliant, that would be really good. We wouldn't know if the other clubs would want to pursue that, if that was the case. I'm quite sure anybody starting off in their own particular leagues would want their players in as soon as possible. But ideally, that would be great.

"I think that's one of the things we'll definitely be looking at. I seriously could not say for sure. You'd have to take the players' thoughts into consideration and maybe the other clubs. But for me, selfishly, that would be great. Alistair and Arne both said to me they would want to play in the game if things had not progressed and I thought they did fine. Alistair has a very strong mindset anyway.

“But you are naturally worried about transfer speculation in the background and how you might take the game into consideration psychologically as well as physically. Alistair even moved over to left-back when Kieran Tierney came off. I cannot update you on any progress from the other day because I don't know any."

Who else could Celtic sign this summer?

O’Neill added on Sportsound: "The most important thing is to win the game. We created a number of chances, but I didn't think we played particularly well. We could have played with more intensity - it was a typical opening game of the season. [Kieran Tierney and Callum McGregor] are the football club. They are the backbone of Celtic and it's great to see them playing together again.

"That's something we are looking at, [signing a back-up left-back]. Kieran - with the best will in the world - will not get through every game. We've got some young lads in the academy, but I think it's a bit early for them. I hope [McGregor] is here until he's 45. He had a conversation with the CEO, he's got a couple of years to run [on his deal], he loves it and to me he's potential managerial material.

"Kasper had a number of chances. It was one of those evenings where you want to impress and he will definitely get better. He will score goals. Duran, I played him a little bit out of position because we haven't had time for them to play together yet. We are doing our utmost to get people in. With about 15 days until the Champions League game, we would like to have people in. There's no point in me letting you know [the positions we want]. Overall, we are trying to improve the squad with quality. Quality costs and we're doing our best."