Collapse of loan deal for Rice shows how tricky the January window can be

Brendan Rodgers has opened up about failing to land Declan Rice during his first stint as Celtic manager as he addressed the difficulties of adding quality to the squad during the January transfer window.

Rodgers remains confident the club will have something to announce sooner rather than later as Celtic seek to consolidate their position at the top of the Premiership but he recalled how one proposed loan deal collapsed after everything was agreed with West Ham United, Rice’s club at the time. The midfielder has since joined Arsenal in a £105 million deal.

Rodgers recalled when several months of negotiations amounted to nothing due to an injury to a team-mate with Rice all set to head to Scotland. It meant West Ham chose to retain the midfielder and he went on to make the first-team breakthrough. "And the rest is history," observed Rodgers.

Mid-season transfer market activity is notoriously problematic. The manager recognises the potential obstacles after being stung in the Rice scenario but he has assured fans that they can prepare to welcome new recruits. “The club will do absolutely everything we can to support what we need and what the team needs,” he said. “There is lots of work going on in the background. I’m pretty sure that in this early period of the month, we can have some joy and get one or two in.

"Ideally you’d want to get them in [early],” he added. “Deals can be complicated and things that might have been there for three or four months can fall away. That’s always the challenge - it only takes one injury to [change the situation around] a player who was lined up to come in.

“I remember when I was here the first time, we spent about three months looking for Declan Rice to come in. Declan was all set to come and then all of a sudden they had an injury, he stayed and got in the team and the rest is history. That’s not the club’s fault – it’s just the way it goes. We have a number of positions we want to prioritise; there are other positions where we won’t be able to do anything until the summer, I know that. But what I do know is that we want to improve the squad and the club are very happy to support that.”