Celtic FC Initiates Contact with Columbus Crew for Manager Wilfried Nancy

Celtic FC has officially contacted Columbus Crew regarding the potential hiring of Wilfried Nancy as their next manager, according to a source familiar with the situation who spoke to ESPN.

Nancy, 48, has been in discussions with Celtic for several weeks; however, the reigning Scottish champions had yet to engage with the Crew until now. The two parties are reportedly working towards finalizing an agreement that is positively inclined towards Nancy’s move to the Scottish Premiership.

Discussions are also ongoing regarding which members of Nancy’s coaching staff will accompany him to Glasgow.

Since Brendan Rogers’ resignation on October 27 following a challenging start to the season, Celtic has been without a permanent manager. Martin O’Neill has been managing the team on an interim basis during this period.

In the past few years, the Crew explored extending Nancy’s contract, which currently extends through 2026, and offered to make him the highest-paid manager in MLS. However, Nancy declined these offers, expressing his desire for a longer-term contract and his ambitions to manage internationally.

Should the deal with Celtic be finalized, it would mark the end of a fruitful three-year tenure for Nancy in Columbus, where he led the team to victory in the MLS Cup in 2023 and the Leagues Cup in 2024. Following this latter achievement, he was honored as the MLS Coach of the Year.

In addition to this accolade, Nancy has received commendations for implementing an entertaining, possession-based style of play with a team that, in 2025, was just outside the top third concerning player salary expenditures.

Nancy previously enjoyed a successful tenure as manager of CF Montréal from 2021 to 2022, where he led the team to win the Canadian Championship in 2021. He ascended to that managerial position following the unexpected resignation of Thierry Henry and had spent ten years with Montreal, coaching in their academy before joining the first team as an assistant in 2016. He departed from Montreal in December 2022 after a disagreement with owner Joey Saputo.

In terms of his playing career, Nancy had a modest beginning with fourth-tier Toulon and also played for various lower-league teams, including Beaucairois, Raon-l’Étape, Ivry, Noisy-le-Sec, Châtellerault, and Orléans.