Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
January signings crucial for Celts
BRENDAN Rodgers feels he could make more use of the January transfer window at Celtic than previous clubs.
But the Celtic manager is only focused on long-term signings to help take the club to the next level in Europe rather than shortterm deals.
Rodgers was speaking at the club’s AGM after earlier appearing to dampen speculation over a potential move for Steven Gerrard, although he remained coy about his transfer dealings.
With Celtic 10 points clear in the Premiership, Rodgers’ second season again looks likely to begin in the first half of July with the Champions League qualifiers, and he would prefer to give new signings time to settle in before the European encounters.
The former Liverpool boss told shareholders: “The January window, from where I came from, it was always something that if you could improve then great but it wasn’t essential if the right player wasn’t available.
“I will still always maintain that but I think coming here, having had the experience of the qualification campaign for the Champions League, then the January window is important.
“Because if we can go on to win the league again and get into the qualifiers then we have allowed the players to bed in and get equipped to your i deas for the qualifiers.”
The days of marquee signings such as Roy Keane appear over at Parkhead with the club’s strategy focused on building value with younger players.
“The players are developing and they are only going to get better,” he said.“But we certainly need a profile of player to really, really compete because the Champions League is a few steps up from where we are playing.”