Celtic’s late transfer spree creates Europa League casualties as three signings left out

Celtic have left Landon Emenalo, Shim Mheuka and Joel van den Berg out of their squad for the Europa League league phase.

All three players arrived during a frantic final 24 hours of business before UEFA’s registration deadline, but will not be available for the Hoops’ eight league-phase fixtures.

Martin O’Neill faced a difficult selection call after Celtic’s late transfer activity left him with more non-homegrown first-team players than he was permitted to register.

The Celtic boss could name only 17 of his 20 non-homegrown options, meaning three players were always going to miss out.

O’Neill has ultimately opted to omit three of the younger and less experienced additions in Emenalo, Mheuka and Van den Berg.

Celtic confirmed their European squad on Thursday afternoon, with the list now locked in for the league phase ahead of their opening fixture against Ferencvaros later this month.

Despite the trio missing out, seven of Celtic’s summer recruits have been included.

That includes Sam Johnstone, Oliver Sorensen and Jordan Lotomba, who all arrived during the closing stages of the transfer window.