Brendan Rodgers has underlined the ongoing importance of maintaining a Scottish core within his Celtic squad, both through the academy and by identifying talent from across the country.
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers arrives at the stadium before the match REUTERS/Russell Cheyne
The Celtic boss was quizzed on his transfer priorities and the part that homegrown players play in his plans. Celtic have a few homegrown players in the squad, which does help meet UEFA requirements. They’ll add to that in the summer when Kieran Tierney returns to Celtic, and they could look to bring in more.
The Hoops have been linked to youngster Lennon Miller in recent times, and he is about to enter the final 12 months of his Fir Park deal.
While the straightforward path is to bring players through the academy, Rodgers has said that while this remains an option, they’ll also look to bring in some other players from other clubs, pointing to examples of Ryan Christie and Stuart Armstrong. He said:
“I think it’s twofold. I think you always look from within to see if there are players within your academy who can make the step up. It’s been very difficult in recent times just because of the level that the team and the club are operating at.
“There is 100% a pathway for a young player here if there’s a bit of patience and a bit of development. That’s your first look. Second look, of course, is outside. I’ve loved working with the Scottish players when I’ve been up here. Come back to my first time, I had Ryan (Christie) and Stuart (Armstrong) and all the guys. They were absolutely brilliant for me. So that’s what we do.
“We look at homegrown players to see if there is anyone we feel who can improve our squad. Or a young player who can come in and who has the potential to be a starter here. So, yeah, it’s always something that we cover in our recruitment.” [Celtic TV]
Just last week, Rodgers wasn’t sounding too hopeful about the youth academy, having watched the youth side against Rangers at Firhill. However, there could be one or two that he has an eye on, and Celtic fans could see them when the Hoops travel to Aberdeen on Wednesday night. It’s expected that the manager will make plenty of changes to his starting XI.
