The pressure may be cranking up on Martin O'Neill, but it's the same old issue that is hampering Celtic - recruitment.

Indeed, the business carried out last season proved particularly wayward, with so many brought into the building having failed to perform.

Like the likes of Joel Mvuka and Junior Adamu, both signed in January, were swiftly cast aside after mere cameo appearances under O'Neill, there seemingly a clear disconnect between the recruitment team and the coaching.

Those woes of last term don't appear to have been resolved this summer either, with Celtic's squad building have been so desperately poor for far too long now.

Breaking down Celtic's dismal recruitment in 2025/26

So many players have come and gone in recent times at Parkhead, but it says it all that it's the same old faces being relied upon, the ageing pairing of Callum McGregor and James Forrest still so integral to this team.

There just simply hasn't been enough successful signings to raise the level in Glasgow, with 2025/26 having been a particularly dismal backward step in terms of incomings.

Across last summer and January combined, the Bhoys made 17 first-team signings, ranging from loans, free transfers and marquee, permanent moves.

Of those 17, just six are still part of the first-team squad this season, with all of last term's loan arrivals having departed, while the likes of Shin Yamada and Michel-Ange Balikwisha have been shipped out this summer.

Of those six too, it's worth noting that Ross Doohan is yet to play a minute for the club, while an injury-hit Callum Osmand has made only six appearances. Even free agent arrival, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, has largely been on the periphery in recent months.

Only Benjamin Nygren and Kieran Tierney can really be considered successful additions, albeit with the Swede still an issue in big games, while the experienced Scot can't seem to last the full 90 on a regular basis.

The Glasgow side are arguably still paying the price for another wasted spell of recruitment, with it looking as if nothing much has changed this summer.

Why Celtic man is already set to be a Mvuka and Adamu repeat

A key theme over the past 12 months or so has been the lack of impact from Celtic's loan signings, with so many having been swiftly cast aside by the man in the dugout.

It says it all among Benjamin Arthur, Jahmai Simpson-Pusey, Tomas Cvancara, Julian Araujo, Mvuka and Adamu, no player made more than 13 first-team appearances in 2025/26, with only Marcelo Saracchi really making his mark among that loan crop.

Hampered by the lack of Champions League football, the Parkhead side have again had to dip into the loan market this time around, securing a spate of late deals before deadline day.

There looks to be a player there in Shim Mheuka, although the teenager has been left out of the Europa League squad, as has Landon Emenalo amid his ongoing fitness woes.

Sam Johnstone endured a dismal outing in the derby at Ibrox, while the biggest concern might well be Oliver Sorensen, the Dane looking set to be exiled by O'Neill.

Looking back to Mvuka and Adamu, in particular, the 74-year-old seemingly made his mind up on the pair almost immediately, handing the two forwards just eight appearances between them in the second half of last season.

Their status as mere temporary signings was surely a factor in that, with Sorensen in line to receive similar treatment, it would seem, on current evidence.

Signed from Parma on a season-long loan deal, the 24-year-old has made just five appearances thus far, only two of which came from the start.

He was rather anonymous away in Perth, prior to being hooked at the break against Ferencvaros, yet he doesn't appear to be being aided by O'Neill's insistence on playing him in an advanced midfield role.

As Football FanCast exclusively reported this week, Sorensen's subsequent omission from the matchday squad at the weekend has been a real bone of contention behind the scenes, one that could even have a bearing on O'Neill's future.

The board believe that the ex-Midtjylland midfielder can be an Arne Engels replacement, yet O'Neill thinks otherwise, hence Sorensen's omission last time out.

It doesn't bode well that just two of Celtic's summer signings started against Rangers, with even Luke McCowan having been favoured ahead of Sorensen and co.

McCowan has drawn the ire of Hoops supporters of late, not least due to his substitute display away in Linz, yet in such a vital clash with the Ibrox side, it was damning of the new arrivals that the Scot was selected instead from the start.

That doesn't reflect well on O'Neill either, it must be said, but nor does it for Sorensen, the left-footer in danger of following in the footsteps of the likes of Mvuka and Adamu as a Celtic player who will merely be the answer to a quiz question later down the line.

As the case of those two January loan signings showcased, once exiled under O'Neill, it's hard to win back favour.