It’ still all quiet on the transfer front at Celtic but hopefully we’ll be seeing some activity sooner rather than later as Brendan Rodgers this week gets back to work and the players start to return for their pre-season assessments. 

There’s a match against Ayr United to prepare for and obviously the players who have been away on international duties will not be involved in that one. Indeed we reported last week that Luis Palma isn’t coming back to Glasgow ahead of the three match summer tour in the United States but will instead meet up with the squad over there.

So what can we expect in the transfer window and where exactly does the current squad need strengthened in order to allow Brendan to make the strides forward that he is looking for in the new campaign?

With the transfer window now fully open the Celtic supporters are eagerly awaiting an influx of new arrivals to strengthen the squad. In my opinion we need at least five players, and five first team ready players at that. The first position that needs tending too is pretty obvious and that is the goalkeeping one. With Joe Hart retiring it’s a big void to fill and the new man will have to be top quality to fill Joe’s gloves.

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Next up is left back. Greg Taylor does his job well and always gives one hundred percent, but we need a new face to give him some much needed competition, something Alexandro Bernabei never did. One things for sure is that any new signing has to be of a better standard than the Argentine. There’s also been some internet chat about the Greg Taylor contract situation with the player rumoured to be unhappy with the terms on offer from the club.

If true, Taylor will no doubt believe that as he is a first pick player and basically plays when fit, he is more deserving of a salary that matches or at least gets nearer to other players in the team in a similar position. Celtic though might not see it that way, so we could end up looking for not one but two left backs if this is the case and the situation cannot be resolved.

Then it’s the centre of defence. CCV gives us a solidness with his ability and presence at the back and we need something with those same qualities to partner the American international. To have two top quality players in the centre of defence would benefit us massively especially in Europe. Top quality left centre-backs are thin on the ground and Brendan may be interested in exploring a deal with Scott McKenna who is a free agent after his contract at Nottingham Forest ends this month.

The next area that needs strengthening is the middle of the park. A quality holding midfielder, one with the physical strength and ability to control a game would be ideal. we’ve not fully replaced Scott Brown and a signing with the attributes of Broony would be ideal, but almost impossible to a achieve for the kind of money Celtic are likely to be playing with in the transfer window. We can but hope that Brendan has a solution.

The last position to be filled should be the centre forward one. It’s still uncertain if Adam Idah will sign permanently, but a player of his ilk would be ideal. A big strong mobile front man who knows his way to goal is what we need. Bojan Miovski has also been touted and he too would be the perfect signing.

Of course we will most likely need to replace Matt O’Riley who is almost certain to leave in the summer, but we’ll worry another that when the time comes. For the time being we will need to concentrate on other targets, and strengthening these areas that I’ve mentioned would set us up nicely for the battle ahead next season, domestically and of course in the Champions League.

Just an Ordinary Bhoy

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