Celtic transfer latest as club announces departure, Reo Hatate situation addressed as 11pm activity 'unlikely'

Celtic host the Austrian champions at Celtic Park before heading to Linz next Tuesday. O’Neill’s squad has been supplemented by four new signings, but key men have moved on - the latest being Arne Engels, who was sold to West Ham last weekend.

The club has until 11pm on Tuesday to register any further players, but O’Neill cautioned against such a move. Well, I wouldn't really be sure,” he said. “There's a fairly decent chance that there'll be nothing happening.”

O’Neill is content with the four new players he has signed for more than £25 million combined. Striker Kasper Hogh is set to lead the line, while fellow forwards Camilo Duran and Haissem Hassan will be in contention to play. Midfielder Mika Baur could also get his first start.

“We're in decent shape,” said O’Neill. “I think most of the players that are at the club are available, so that's good news.

“I'm happy with the players that have been brought into the football club, and that's good. I'm just really looking forward to the game. The two ties coming up now are big matches for us, but they're also exceptionally difficult as well, so we'll just be ready for the challenge, or at least we think we are.

“I like the players that we've signed. I think I said last weekend ideally it would be nice if, for instance, Hassan had a little bit more football played. That's the nature of the game. We've got him in now. And over the course of the season, whether it's in the Champions League or whether it's in the Europa League, it's up to the players now as much as anything else.

“I think the quality we've brought in will bear fruit during the course of the season.”

Celtic could lose another midfielder before the transfer window closes on September 3, with Reo Hatate making his intentions clear for a move away. However, he has knocked back offers to unnamed clubs on the continent and is understood to be looking for a more salubrious destination.

“I think that the main thing for Reo, what I would love for Reo to do, is get back to the form that he's shown a couple of years ago when he was one of the best players in Scotland,” said O’Neill on the Japanese, who has become a bit-part player under him. “And that's the point. It's been a bit of a struggle for him. He's not a regular member of the team at the moment.

“Those things can change. But I don't know about leaving in that sense. There's been enquiries for him, but I don't think there's been anything definitive. But that may well happen in the next week. And we'll see. If Reo wanted to stay on and really battle for his place here in the team and say he's capable of doing it, I have not a problem with that.”

One player who has left Celtic is young left-sided defender Adam Montgomery, who has joined Livingston on loan.