Brendan Rodgers given Celtic transfer priorities as one recruit urgent for Champions League progress says hero
Brendan Rodgers has been told the two positions he must recruit in to get Celtic Champions League ready.
The Hoops boss will be active in the summer transfer market after a successful season at Parkhead. They have already won the double and are hot favourites for the Treble, Aberdeen standing in their way during the Scottish Cup final later this month. Importantly, they also progressed out the league phase of the Champions League and ran Bayern Munich close at the knockout play-off round stage.
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Hide AdA qualifier will need to be hurdled this season to get into the league phase and for that to happen, with Kieran Tierney already arriving from Arsenal at left-back, club hero Pat Bonner reckons striker and midfield cover to allow captain Callum McGregor to recharge is a must.
Celtic transfer priorities this summer
He told Sportsound: “There will be bodies brought in. He said it in the past before, anybody he brings in probably now at this stage it's not players who come in just as projects or you know just to make up the squad. There might be a couple of them but but in the main, the ones he wants to bring in is to make the team better on the pitch and and that is going to take a bit of money. But that's also up to him now to identify the areas. Striker, possibly a midfielder would be the two priorities I think,
“Kieran Tierney knows what it's all about coming here too. He’s not something somebody new coming to this scene and that as long as he remains fit and and listen we've seen him he's coming off the bench for Arsenal at times playing in a very very strong league so that's going to improve things probably there. I think in the middle of the pitch I would like to see him bring somebody in just to take the pressure off Callum McGregor a little bit or play alongside Callum at times when they need that to can almost like hold. Callum can play further forward too that's the thing, he can rotate around, but just somebody that's going to maybe give that a little bit of a strength in there going forward into European competition.
Why Celtic urgently need a striker
It was the striker position that Bonner put in the urgent category, Adam Idah and Daizen Maeda working as the senior options in the second half of this campaign after Kyogo’s exit to Rennes in January. The former keeper added: “Then they definitely need somebody up front. Definitely need somebody to come in. I think they're going to be tried and trusted and they have the the money and they have the knowledge of Brendan Rodgers and what he wants. That's the key. He's been around them all the time, he knows what he wants to do to improve the team and that's the critical factor so they'll be pushing on.
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Hide Ad“I think being in the Champions League, well they have to have one qualifying game and that could be tricky enough, you're never sure who you're going to who you're going to get in that qualifier. If they can get into Champions League again that's just the prize to bring somebody back in again because. Last year's European competition run would have probably said to people it’s a good place to go, good team to go to, they're in European competition and I'll take my my chances with that.
“If they can pay them the money to take money so they can they would spend on a striker. I think they have spent about nine million at the moment (on Idah) so I think 11 million on Engels so you're presuming to kick to try and give them a chance. They have to do it. They have to get get somebody in there, they can't just rely on putting Maeda in there. Adam Idah who's young enough and and scored on Sunday but I don't know whether Adam needs something alongside him to to help him also.”
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