Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers has issued a stern warning to rivals as he announces plans for a significant strengthening of his squad in the upcoming summer transfer window.
Despite being on the verge of securing their third consecutive Scottish Premiership title, Rodgers is eager to bolster his team to ensure sustained success and competitiveness.
Rodgers praised his current squad for their performance this season, acknowledging the challenges they faced and commending their effort. However, he opened up on the necessity for greater squad depth and quality to achieve his long-term ambitions for the club.
“Well, we have to add quality to the team, that’s pretty clear,” Rodgers said, as quoted by SunSport.
“I am really excited about moving forward and moving into a bright future with the club. “This season has been a real challenge and the squad is not as strong as I would like it to have been.
“What the players have given me until this point has been absolutely brilliant.
“Our job going forward next year is to be stronger, much stronger.
“That is something that is well underway.
“There are definitely positions that we’d like to have finalised sooner rather than later.
“Ideally, if we can do that then great, but what’s really important for us this summer is getting the level of quality that I want into the squad.
“That will be absolutely key for the growth of this team.
“As I’ve said, the guys in this team have been absolutely fantastic this season, but next season we need more depth in the squad.
“In my past time here, I was going away to Ross County making eight changes.
“I was bringing into that team Stuart Armstrong, Ryan Christie – these guys have shown that they’re Premier League quality.
“I remember going away to Dubai to our training camp, and, in a proper game, the second team beat the starters 5-0.
“That gave me great food for thought then when I came back for the second part of the season.
“It was a proper football game and that told me the depth that was required.
“And I think that’s something that’s definitely required here because we lost a bit of that in the summer, and no doubt that we’ll need to restructure that going forward.
“We’ve got some fantastic players here and we want to add to that.”
Celtic are set to make record amounts in the Champions League next season, with the new format proving more luxurious than ever. Add this to potential clauses landing at Parkhead from previous player sales, as well as the potential of Celtic’s player sales, Celtic will have the facilities to spend big this summer. It’s certainly an exciting time to be a Celtic fan.
