Martin O’Neill has addressed Kelechi Iheanacho’s contract at Celtic.
In Celtic’s win over Hibs on Sunday, it was Iheanacho who scored the decisive goal in a crucial match in the Scottish Premiership title race.
Having been a background figure for much of the season, the Nigerian is finally emerging as a central character for O’Neill with his goalscoring contributions.
And though he may not be involved in the decision, O’Neill has commented on the decision regarding his contract, with his current deal set to expire at the end of the season.
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Martin O’Neill: Kelechi Iheanacho fitness a consideration for Celtic contract
Asked if the club should look to keep a hold of the striker after the game, O’Neill said: “That’s for another day.
“I think that the fitness element is the most important thing, and I think you have to go and prove that you’re fit, and the only way to prove it is on the field of play.
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“What he has done for us has been terrific, really terrific, particularly now.
“You’re looking at his overall contribution through injuries and stuff like this here, for a whole season, those are the things that I’m sure the football club would weigh up on as much as anything else.
“Although he keeps telling me he’s very, very young, time does catch up with players, although I think he’s only 29 or 30.
“If the club were to keep him, then it’s really to do with a proper pre-season for him. A real proper pre-season.
“I think he arrived at the last moment, didn’t he, here? So he would have to do it, and I think that he would benefit greatly from that there, where you’re getting three or four weeks’ work into him before the season started — which I think he needs, obviously.
“I think with the injuries that he’s had this particular season, when I came here, my first spell, he was injured.
“Then the second one, I think that Wilfried had put him into the team, I think he injured himself in the League Cup final, trying to recover from that.
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“So at this minute, he hasn’t played a great deal of football, he has been a super impact player.
“I’m sure he’s desperate to start the game, but we’ll see. But at this minute, the way that Daizen Maeda has started centre forward for us, and he can shift over to other positions.
“Of course, there is the danger that you don’t give him enough time to get on the pitch, because you could spend ten minutes, and him not getting into the game, so that’s something that we’re trying our best.
“And so far, it’s worked out for us at the minute.
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