Transfer Centre

Brendan Rodgers: 'Celtic have to further strengthen'

By Daniel Lewis, Senior Reporter | 26 January 2018

Brendan Rodgers admits that he is waiting for the right players to become available as he attempts to bolster his Celtic squad over the next week.

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has confessed that he is keen to bring in more new players before the January transfer window closes for business.

With less than a week to go before the winter deadline strikes, the Bhoys have so far added just Lewis Morgan and Marvin Compper to their squad.

Rodgers believes that his side are in need of new recruits due to the demands of balancing European and domestic football, having finished third in their Champions League group to qualify for the last 32 of the Europa League.

Asked whether he needs to bolster his ranks, the Ulsterman told reporters: "For me, we have to. We have to. There's no question that's something we need to do. I'm very happy with the group of players that I have. We'll also have some returning from injury who will make us stronger again.

"But we wanted to bring in players in this window who would add quality. Sometimes that takes a wee bit of time. You're not just relying on going and paying the money. You need to rely on the timing from the other team so we're hopeful we can bring in that quality.

"I could have signed 20 players up until now, or more. I could have changed my whole squad if I wanted to. But I needed to make sure it was the right quality, not just domestically but for any European football we might have further down the line."

Questions remain over the future of French striker Moussa Dembele, meanwhile, after being made the subject of a bid from an unnamed club.