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Per the words of caretaker manager Martin O'Neill, Wilfried Nancy will be leading Celtic during this weekend's Premiership fixture versus Hearts.

Columbus Crew's manager has been part of serious talks with Glasgow club for almost seven days and now looks set to wrap up a deal.

O'Neill has been acting as caretaker manager for over a month since Brendan Rodgers resigned, notching six victories in seven matches, cutting into the lead at the top in the Scottish Premiership and guiding the Parkhead outfit to a League Cup final spot.

The 73-year-old, who once coached Celtic between 2000 to 2005, had already indicated he believed Sunday's visit to Easter Road – a 2-1 victory – would be his final act of his second spell in charge.

Yet, O'Neill stated he will manage the team for the midweek Premiership match against Dens Park before Nancy steps into the role.

"He is the man that will be taking over," O'Neill said to the radio station. "I believed it was over last weekend, but there's some paperwork yet to be dealt with. Wednesday will assuredly be my final game."

An Unusual Period

"This has been like a dream," O'Neill continued. "It resembles a chapter of your life that makes you wonder 'did that actually occur?' Am I happy that I've done it? Most certainly."

Should Celtic beat Dundee while the Jambos overcome Killie in midweek, the incoming boss could potentially take Celtic to summit of the table with a victory during his first match as manager.

"That's a good fixture for Nancy versus Hearts," remarked O'Neill. "A gentle introduction. It will be a challenging fixture naturally but good luck to him. At least he takes over a team full of self-belief."

This self-belief stems from O'Neill's success on the field in the last month or so, a period where he suffered just one defeat – a three-one loss at the Danish side during Europa League.

However, the former Irish manager along with his squad were then able to claim their first away win in Europe since way back in 2021 by defeating the Dutch club 3-1 last week.

Rebuilding Belief

"We lost by Midtjylland," O'Neill recalled. "That proved to be a tough game – a couple of weeks earlier they defeated Forest, making it a challenge. To travel to De Kuip and win on their patch was terrific. We have given the team a chance, there are three games left to try to qualify, however, the Feyenoord game was key for confidence."

Future Ambitions

Upon being asked for his reflections on his spell as caretaker, O'Neill stated it has led to thoughts on if he would like to continue managing in the future.

"I honestly don't know," he said. "I will have a moment to reflect on everything following Wednesday evening."

"It was challenging," he continued. "I felt a fear of failure – which is always a major worry. I used to boast I could do this job equally as badly as a lot of other gaffers."

"I've learned a lot. I have had some great young coaches alongside me and it has served as a reinvigoration personally in many ways, working with young people daily."

Consultancy Role?

Regarding whether he will stay with the club as an advisor, the former Leicester, Villa and Ireland manager says that is entirely up to Nancy.

"That decision is solely for the incoming manager to decide," O'Neill said. "He should be given full autonomy. If he wants my input on things, that's fine. If not, that is okay at all. It becomes his squad the moment he steps into the job."

TalkSport host Jim White ended the interview if O'Neill if he would be emotional when the full-time whistle blew in the Dundee game.

"Are you asking if I will cry?" O'Neill responded. "Please don't be stupid."