Postecoglou has no plans to change his transfer strategy

Ange Postecoglou hopes guaranteed Champions League football can open up some new markets if Celtic clinch the title, but he is not planning to rip up his transfer strategy and start again.

Uefa this week confirmed the Scottish champions will go straight into the group stages, with Celtic all but assured of the title if they beat Hearts this afternoon.

Rangers could join them by winning the Europa League, but Celtic will not start making short-term decisions on spending an estimated £40 million windfall.

Postecoglou, whose side started in the Champions League qualifiers on July 20 last year, said: “It’s a great opportunity for us, not just to build, but we can structure our whole pre-season programme a little bit differently to what we have in recent years.

“There’s a whole host of things that go along with it and, should we get over the line and get direct qualification, it gives us a real good opportunity to strategically plan next season with some certainty.”

Postecoglou, who this week welcomed the appointment of Mark

Lawwell as head of recruitment, added: “We know the areas we need to strengthen both on and off the field, and we have identified the areas that we need to recruit players in and get the squad to be stronger.

“I don’t think being in the Champions League changes that too much from my perspective. It may make us a more attractive proposition for players who want to come to our club.

“That might open up another market for us, but it’s not like we go from the club we are to a club that will spend on a different level.

“There’s still certain disciplines around that, and my belief has always been that you have a plan and you try to stick to it, irrespective of what comes your way, and it has proved successful for us this year.

“We want to replicate the success we have had in the transfer market by making sure we identify the right type of player rather than just looking for players in a different price bracket.

“This year, particularly the early part of the year, we probably didn’t have the depth in quality in certain positions to be able to carry the workload of a 60-game season.

“We are still in the stages of really developing our players and game style, and for me there’s still areas where we could have more quality in terms of our depth and also the levels of performances we put in.

“There won’t be the amount of activity that we had last year, but the activity we have will be significant in that we are hopefully going to bring in players that will improve us immediately rather than bring players in who will just add to the squad.”

Ange Postecoglou.