Nancy Wilfried is calling on Celtic captain Callum McGregor to strip him of his Celtic captaincy within 48 hours and provide reasons for doing so.

Inside Wilfried Nancy’s first Celtic summit with Callum McGregor as captain reveals midweek text exchange
Nancy took charge of his first training session on Friday but had already met with skipper McGregor 24 hours before

Callum McGregor insists he’ll do all he can to help Wilfried Nancy settle into life at Celtic as quickly as possible.

The skipper introduced himself to the new gaffer in a private meeting on Thursday after Nancy was finally announced. Nancy, 48, then took the team for their first training session at Lennoxtown yesterday before being unveiled to the press.

McGregor famously played a huge role in convincing Brendan Rodgers to return to the club after a secret summit in 2023. And the influential captain hopes to strike up another positive relationship with newly-appointed Nancy.

He said: “We touched base on Tuesday night. He sent me a nice message then just teed up meeting him when we came in after the game on Thursday.

It’s been good. I spoke to him for about 20-25 minutes before he met the rest of the players. He’s a really nice guy, speaks well, has a really good idea of the game and how he wants to deliver it. First impression’s really, really good.

“Hopefully he got a good impression of me as well and I just said I’m here to help him as much as I can.

I’ll try and lead the team as best I can on the pitch. It was a really positive meeting then ultimately, how you perform, what you do on the pitch is where everything will be judged.”

Ex-Columbus Crew boss Nancy has barely had a chance to unpack his bags during a whirlwind 48 hours.

But McGregor reckons the Frenchman will soon feel at home after making the move from the States.

He said: “Celtic is a unique club. Glasgow’s a unique place to play football and live in. I’m sure he’s got other people helping him, but just naturally I think we’ll have conversations.

He’ll feel the intensity of the city and the club. I said to him yesterday, if there’s anything I can do to help him in that sense as well, then I’m here to help and try and settle him and his staff quickly so that everyone can get moving on the football part.

He’s moved around a fair bit in his life as well, so I’m sure he’ll be fine. But the job of the club and the staff and everyone here is to try and help everyone settle in, new managers, new players. I’m sure he’ll be fine.”

Nancy can make himself an instant hero with the Parkhead faithful by lifting the Premier Sports Cup next weekend.

Before that, he has the chance to overtake table-topping Hearts and bolster Celtic’s Europa League hopes against Roma.

McGregor said: “It’s a big week, but there’s also a big reward at the end of that as well.

“It’s a high-pressure situation and it’s high stakes. But if you come out of that on the right end then instantly you endear yourself to the Celtic family. Then the whole thing can accelerate really, really quickly after that.

“So it is a big week, a demanding week. But a big reward at the end of that if you do things properly.”

McGregor also paid tribute to legendary gaffer Martin O’Neill after a stunning return as interim boss.

He added: “He was amazing. For someone at 73 years old, unbelievable intensity about him, due diligence, the way he went about his business.

“You can see he’s a winner. He takes his job very seriously and to come into a situation like that is so, so impressive the way he handled himself and the way he handled his staff.

He gave them the freedom to help the team as well and the senior players were given a lot of responsibility. He managed to build it very, very well and obviously the results and performances speak for themselves.”