It has been a mixed season for Celtic thus far, with a difficult European campaign balanced against a closer-than-anticipated title race against arch-rivals Rangers.
Calls have been widespread for the club to act in the transfer market this month to ensure that they take strides against their cross-city rivals, but Celtic's movement thus far in January has been slow.
Neil Lennon - at present the leading contender to take over from Stephen Kenny as Ireland manager - has been among those to call for Celtic to make moves in the transfer market, with Rapid Wien winger Nicolas Kuhn the only signing in 2024.
With just a day left in the transfer window, it seems as though that will be the extent of Celtic's transfer movement - though they were tasked with turning down a surprise approach for out-of-favour Ireland midfielder James McCarthy this week.
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Celtic reject Volos FC loan move for James McCarthy
Reports emerged on Tuesday that Celtic had turned down a loan offer from Greek Super League side Volos FC for James McCarthy.
Celtic have rejected an offer from Greek side Volos FC for James McCarthy ❌ pic.twitter.com/bJA6mSzCHO
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) January 30, 2024
Celtic refused the offer to take McCarthy on loan until the end of the season, with Sky Sports suggesting the central issue surrounded a disagreement on how much of the Irishman's wage would be covered by Volos FC. Supposedly, Celtic expected the Greek side to cover a larger percentage of McCarthy's wages - a proposal which was shot down.
McCarthy moved to Glasgow in August 2021 from Crystal Palace on a four-year deal but has made only 27 senior appearances since joining Celtic, the last of which came in October 2022 against Motherwell in the Scottish League Cup.
The 33-year-old has since been demoted to the Celtic B team, making just two appearances in the Lowlands League this season.
The last time we saw James McCarthy line out in an Ireland jersey came in the EURO 2020 play-off defeat to Slovakia in October 2020. With Celtic now unwilling to offer him first-team football, and loan moves falling through, it does not seem likely that that is set to change.
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