Martin O'Neill admits Celtic failed to replace Arne Engels during the summer transfer window.
The Belgian international joined West Ham United in a deal worth £22million. Although Celtic signed Mika Baur, Joel van den Berg, and Oliver Sorensen last month, O'Neill says none of their current midfield options match Engels' profile.
"I always felt he was going to be leaving anyway," the Celtic manager explained. "Trying to get a like for like, we looked at a number of players who could do that.
"For one reason or another, it didn't materialise. So yeah, he's been a loss in terms of that running power he can give you."
Engels joined Celtic from Augsburg in summer 2024 for £11m. He made 100 appearances for the club, scoring 17 goals and providing 22 assists. The 23-year-old won four trophies before his recent exit.
Will Celtic look for an Engels replacement in the January window?
"You'd have to, very much so," O'Neill continued. "January seems a million miles away but it comes round relatively quickly."
Celtic have been criticised for failing to replace their best players in recent years and Engels is another. They've missed his presence in midfield this season, even if the entire team itself looks dysfunctional.
O'Neill hasn't got the best out of club-record signing Kasper Hogh and he can't find a way of fitting the Dane, Camilo Duran, and Haissem Hassan into the same XI.
The 74-year-old said after Thursday's defeat to Ferencvaros that, given recent performances, Celtic may pivot from the 4-3-3 formation that's served them well over the past decade and more.
Such uncertainty over systems six weeks into the new campaign sparks numerous questions, like, did O'Neill have a specific tactical set-up in mind when signing players during the summer?
"Not necessarily," he said. "If you're going to play whatever system you want, you need strong running players in your side. You definitely need that. You need a bit of strength. That was something that I thought was lacking from last season.
"You're trying to get the right person in to do that and sometimes you get frustrated in the transfer market if it doesn't materialise. But that's really something that didn't necessarily mean fitting just one system, it just meant players being able to play whatever you do.
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"Really, for all of us talking about this and thinking that we're in this modern era, it is about players being able to break systems down.
"I watched Manchester United the other night, who were 2-0 up and coasting, and allowing a team to come back into the game because they make mistakes at the back that you wouldn't be expecting Premier League teams to do."
Make more mistakes of their own against Rangers this afternoon, and criticism of O'Neill will only increase. In contrast, with a victory, his team could move eight points clear of their great rivals entering the first international break of the season.
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