Celtic’s Kelechi Iheanacho mystery – Now you see him, now you don’t

The reasons for Kelechi Iheanacho being missing from Celtic’s squad during Sunday’s 2-2 draw with theRangers at Ibrox remain a mystery…

Yang Hyun-Jun and Kelechi Iheanacho are seen during the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Falkirk at Celtic Park on February 01, 2026. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

The former Leicester City forward did not feature in the matchday squad for the Glasgow Derby encounter, despite being involved with the Hoops just days earlier.

The 29 year-old had come off the bench in Thursday night’s 1-0 Europa League victory over Stuttgart, making a brief 12-minute appearance.

Against the Ibrox club at the weekend, Junior Adamu was handed the starting role up front, while Daizen Maeda was later moved into a central position after the Austrian was hooked at half-time.

26.02.2026, UEFA Europa League, VfB Stuttgart Celtic Glasgow v l Maximilian Mittelstädt VFB Stuttgart, 7 expects Kelechi Iheanacho Celtic FC, photo IMAGO.

Martin O’Neill did not comment on Iheanacho’s absence post-match following the derby, in which Celtic recovered from a two-goal deficit to secure a late equaliser courtesy of Reo Hatate.

Speculation has since grown after training footage of Iheanacho surfaced online. Clips shared on Sunday morning from Manchester appeared to show the Nigerian taking part in individual drills.

The videos were posted by coach Kwaku Ohemeng, founder of the Seedorf Football Academy, and were captioned simply “Sunday”. The timing of the upload, coinciding with the Glasgow Derby draw, has prompted questions over the player’s whereabouts.

Kelechi Iheanacho during the Premier Sports Cup Final match between St Mirren and Celtic at Hampden Park on December 14, 2025. (Photo by Vagelis Georgariou, The Celtic Star)

It remains unclear whether the content was filmed earlier and uploaded later, or if Iheanacho travelled to Manchester for specialist training over the weekend. The location tag on the Instagram story identified Manchester.

Iheanacho reshared the clips on his own account on Monday. Ohemeng also published footage of Manchester United defender Patrick Dorgu, who is currently recovering from a hamstring injury.

Kelechi Iheanacho of Celtic celebrates scoring his team’s first goal, which was later ruled out during the UEFA Europa League 2025/26 League Phase MD2 match between Celtic FC and SC Braga at Celtic Park on October 02, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Former Celtic full-back Jeremie Frimpong has previously undertaken individual training sessions with the same coaching group away from his club.

Iheanacho’s situation with Celtic is bizarre. One minute he is in the squad, the next he is nowhere to be seen. He could have been a decent option for Martin O’Neill on Sunday.

It appears that the big striker may have weekends off. One thing is for sure, the likelihood of him earning a long-term deal at the end of the season looks extremely unlikely.

Conor Spence