It can be said with certainty Alex Oxlade-ChamberlainAn introduction to Scottish football and celtics Saturday night was a dramatic night.

The Hoops confirmed a move to bring the midfielder on a free transfer this weekend, Martin O’NeillOxlade-Chamberlain made an appearance in front of fans during Celtic’s Scottish Cup tie against Dundee.

These fans witnessed a brilliant finish to the Parkhead game. Although the Bulls did not participate in the game, freshman Junior Adamu certainly played his role.

The centre-forward signed on deadline day and started his Celtic career in sensational fashion, scoring a stunning strike in stoppage time to send the game into extra time.

Sebastian Tounekti will win plenty of plaudits for Glasgow’s goals and assists, but Adam’s goal was worthy. After the terrible reign of Wilfrid Nancy, the Boy’s were once again firing on all cylinders under O’Neill. However, he does need to get Chamberlain up to speed quickly.

Oxlade-Chamberlain could fit into Celtic’s midfield

Celtic have been riddled with problems this season, both on the wing, arguably still awaiting replacements like Jota and Nicolas Kuhn, and in attack, where Maeda has yet to reach the heights of last season.

However, it feels like midfield is one of the biggest issues, which is why Oxlade-Chamberlain was brought in after deadline day.

Celtic have long needed someone to play alongside Callum McGregor in the middle of the park and he has had a number of partners but they have all been rather inconsistent.

Reo Hatate, one of the Premier League’s best players under Ange Postecoglou, is facing the lowest point of his time in Scotland. Lacking motivation, attacking threat and the ability to create chances, it all felt a bit too safe for the Japanese midfielder.

And then there’s Arn Engels. Nottingham Forest make £25m bid On transfer deadline day, O’Neill joked that it would take a bid of £100m to take him out of heaven, such was his importance. However, the Belgian’s future remains rather uncertain due to these bids, even now that the window has closed.

Top scorer Benjamin Nygren has also played regularly in midfield this season, but his best position is arguably further up the pitch, where he can influence play in the final third. His 15 goals in the 2025/26 season prove this.

So with Hartart out of form and Engels missing from the team on Saturday, it does give the Bulls a position to move into. McGregor needs a partner and that’s where the former Arsenal man could join the team.

That being said, it could be a few weeks before we see him start playing. Although the 32-year-old has been training with Arsenal, he has not played a game since May 11 while still playing for Besiktas.

The biggest losers from Chamberlain’s move to Celtics

Yes, the England midfielder is probably past his best, but what a great signing this is cannot be underestimated. This is a player who not only won championships Premier League And also won the Champions League. He has been an outstanding football player throughout his successful but injury-prone career.

Oxlade-Chamberlain doesn’t have much time to get up to speed between now and the end of the season, but his arrival would be bad news for many players at Celtic, especially the aforementioned Hartart, and Paul Bernardo, two candidates to play alongside McGregor in midfield.

There was a feeling that now was the time to cash in on the Japan international, but now that Celtic have certainly signed another midfielder, is Bernardo’s time in Scotland coming to an end?

In January, the Portuguese attracted interest from a number of teams, including an unnamed Danish club who reportedly made a loan offer. However, the offer was rejected as the basketball team had no replacement. Still, even if no one replaces him, the decision does feel strange.

Indeed, now that Chamberlain has arrived, it would be a surprise if the 24-year-old starts for Celtic again, let alone plays another game in the famous green and white stripes.

After all, the player signed for 3.5 million pounds is not a player O’Neill rates highly at all. That’s clear from his reduced playing time in recent weeks.

Bernardo has played just 200 minutes in eight games under the Irishman since returning to Glasgow this season and is unlikely to get any more minutes after his performance at the weekend.

He featured in the cup tie against Dundee, his first start since the final round cup win over Auchinleck. In the league, he has not played a minute since the 2-0 win over Motherwell at the end of December.

In that game, he was substituted at half-time by Luke McCowan. Against Dundee he was substituted again at half-time, a damning indictment of his ability. O’Neal was clearly unhappy with his performance, and it’s easy to understand why.

As expected, he contributed very little on offense and very little when running the ball. Luckily, Chamberlain is the perfect solution to this problem.

He is a B2B machine who can both break through enemy defenses and disrupt games. Sadly for Bernardo, his time at Celtic looks to be over.

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