da dobrowin： Celtic manager Martin O’Neill has confirmed that he will have the final say on any incoming signings made from here on out for the rest of the January transfer window.

da prosport bet： The Northern Irish boss is only in post as an interim until the end of the 2025/26 campaign, but he will be able to have the last say on any players that come through the door this month, although he will also lean on others at the club for their opinions on certain targets.

Whoever was in the dugout at this time of the year, whether it was Brendan Rodgers, Wilfried Nancy, or O’Neill, a centre-forward was always going to be needed to strengthen the squad.

Why Celtic need to sign a new centre-forward

The Hoops need to add a top-quality number nine to their ranks before the end of the window because they do not have any players in double figures for goals so far this season. In fact, no striker in the squad has managed more than six goals in the Scottish Premiership.

Daizen Maeda, who has also played out wide, is the only Celtic striker who has scored more than four goals in the league, per WhoScored, but he has also underperformed his xG of 7.93, with six goals.

Celtic’s biggest xG underperformers

25/26 Premiership

xG

Goals

Johnny Kenny

8.27

4

Hyun-jun Yang

4.05

2

Daizen Maeda

7.93

6

Shin Yamada

1.59

0

Kelechi Iheanacho

3.41

2

Stats via WhoScored

As you can see in the table above, Johnny Kenny is the biggest xG underperformer in the squad in the Scottish Premiership this term, scoring just four goals from 8.27 xG.

The Ireland international, who is one of four strikers in the five biggest xG underperformers for Celtic, has started eight of his 13 appearances in the league, per Sofascore, but he has yet to prove that he can be relied upon.

Kenny has started four of the last five league games as Celtic’s number nine, per Sofascore, and O’Neill can finally ditch him from the side by swooping for a reported transfer target.

The £3m striker Celtic should replace Kenny with

The Hoops need to use the rest of the January transfer window to find the clinical number nine that they are clearly lacking in the current squad, given how badly their forwards have performed in front of goal.

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Celtic were linked with an interest in GAIS number nine Ibrahim Diabate, who is valued at £3m, in December, and he could be a brilliant first signing for O’Neill.

As aforementioned, the Scottish giants need to sign a striker who can finish chances at an impressive and efficient rate. Diabate is a player who has the potential to be exactly what they need.

The Ivorian marksman, who was described as a “super physical” striker by analyst Jan Schultz, scored 20 goals in 32 appearances for GAIS in all competitions in 2025, per Sofascore.

No current Celtic striker is on course to score 20 goals in the current campaign, barring a big turnaround in form in the next few months, which suggests that Diabate could provide a level of goalscoring that O’Neill does not have in his squad at the moment.

2025 Allsvenskan

Diabate

Rank vs STs

xG

13.80

Top 1%

Shots on target

28

Top 7%

Goals

19

Top 1%

Assists

5

Top 5%

Duels won

98

Top 21

Aerial duels won

71

Top 9%

Stats via FotMob

As you can see in the table above, the 26-year-old centre-forward scored 19 league goals from an xG of just 13.80, which means that he outperformed his xG by 5.20.

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Meanwhile, Kenny has underperformed by 4.27 xG in the Premiership for the Hoops this season. An underperformance like that would see him score between eight and nine goals from the xG that Diabate racked up in 2025.

These statistics suggest that Diabate has the finishing quality to arrive at Parkhead as a huge upgrade on Kenny, as both an out-and-out finisher and as a goalscorer, because of both the efficiency and volume of his goalscoring in 2025 for GAIS.

Therefore, O’Neill should push the club to make the Ivorian star his first signing of the January transfer window, after Nancy brought in Julian Araujo on loan from Bournemouth, so that he can finally drop Kenny from the XI.

Talks held: Yang upgrade now wants to sign for Celtic after Nancy sacking

Celtic have reportedly held talks to sign a star who could come in as an upgrade on Hyun-jun Yang.

ByDan Emery