Celtic: Nancy arrives in UK to complete move to Hoops

Wilfried Nancy has landed in the UK and is expected to be confirmed as the new Celtic boss in the next 24 hours.

The Frenchman has been granted permission to join the Glasgow giants by Columbus Crew and will become the permanent successor to Brendan Rodgers, who left the club in October.

Celtic have been under the interim guidance of Martin O’Neill in the intervening period and the Ulsterman confirmed tonight’s game with Dundee will be his last.

“You will be relieved to know that this is definitely it for tomorrow evening, so I’ve been assured of it by the board,” O’Neill said at yesterday’s press conference.

“A young gentleman’s coming in and it’s over to him.

“But obviously, we’ve got the big, big game here tomorrow evening and obviously, I’d like to try and win it if we can.”

O’Neill works wonders to put Celtic back in title contention

O’Neill, who led the club to great success in his first spell at Celtic Park, has performed superbly once again, helping the Hoops to four successive league wins and a League Cup semi-final victory over Rangers.

“The nice thing about the players is that they have responded and they’ve shown a willingness to try and implement some of the things that I think are important about the game,” the Northern Irishman added.

“That’s really it. Some have maybe even been reluctant to do it, I don’t know. I’m joking.

“They’ve been great, obviously, and I couldn’t praise them highly enough.

“We’ve got one more game to go, for me. They’ve got big, big matches ahead, and those games are really important to them. The response has been terrific.”

Nancy impresses in MLS

Nancy had an underwhelming playing career in his homeland but has flourished since becoming a coach in North America.

After working his way through the college system, and then the Montreal Impact youth set-up, he was handed the first-team job at the rebranded CF Montreal following the resignation of Thierry Henry.

He led the Canadian team to the 2022 MLS playoffs before joining the Crew.

In his first season in Columbus, he guided the team to the MLS Cup and, the year after, the Leagues Cup. He was named MLS Coach of the Year in 2024.

He will arrive in Glasgow with Celtic back within reach of Premiership leaders Hearts.

Celtic go into tonight’s game two points adrift of the Edinburgh club with a game in hand.