Celtic are in advanced talks with former Arsenal and Liverpool midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
The Scottish champions are confident of signing the England international as a free agent who could undergo a medical on Thursday.
Sky Sports News revealed Celtic’s interest in the 32-year-old earlier this week and manager Martin O’Neill confirmed he had spoken to the player at his press conference on Tuesday.
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Chris Sutton meets Martin O’Neill to discuss the manager’s second term this season, hopes of ‘reconciliation’ between club and fans, recruitment concerns, January transfers, title favorites Hearts and more.
Asked if he liked the 35-time England cap, the Celtic manager said: “Yes. Honestly yes. Yes. He has been training at Arsenal for a while since his time in Turkey.
“Condition-wise, it’s not up to fitness, but that’s fine. We’ll see. And listen, he’s got a lot of options.
“I think he was very excited about what we were saying. He knows about the football club. He’s a great friend of Joe Hart and Joe spoke to him. Not on our behalf. It was just a conversation with Joe.”
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has 35 caps for England
Oxlade-Chamberlain has been training with former club Arsenal since terminating his contract with Turkey’s Besiktas by mutual consent in August.
Celtic take on Dundee in the Scottish Cup on Saturday after Wednesday’s Scottish Premiership game in Aberdeen was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.
They face Stuttgart in the first leg of the Europa League play-offs on February 19, with the registration deadline for the tie falling on Thursday at midnight.
Five players joined the Hoops during the January transfer window. Four of them – Tomas Tswantsara, Junior Adamu, Joel Mvuka and Benjamin Arthur – were signed by O’Neill.