POSTECOGLOU OUT TO SIGN NEW STARS QUICKLY

ANGE POSTECOGLOU hopes to tie up Celtic’s summer transfer business in time for a return to pre-season training. A point against Dundee United at Tannadice tonight will see the Parkhead side crowned Scottish champions for a 52nd time. And with a place in the group stage of the Champions League already secure, beating Rangers to the title guarantees a UEFA windfall in excess of £30million next season. The former Australia boss is in the market for two full-backs, a ball-playing central defender, wingers and another striker. Keen to make an impact in world football’s biggest club competition, plans to strengthen the squad quickly are already underway. ‘The work has already started,’ admitted Postecoglou, linked with a £2m move for Hammarby defender Mohanad Jeahze. ‘We’re already planning and I’ve had conversations with the club about the kind of players we want to identify and bring in. Our priority is to try to get that done early so that, come pre-season, with us hopefully winning the Premiership and getting straight into the group stage, we know we’ve got a really good opportunity in pre-season to work with the group of players without the pressure of competition. It would be great if we could have all the new players in by that time. ‘Sometimes, these things are taken out of your hands a little bit, but our intent is to try to get our business done early.’ Celtic’s last played in the Champions League in 2017/18 and recruitment plans have been hampered in recent seasons by uncertainty over their qualifying status. Six points and 21 goals ahead of Rangers with two games to play, a coveted place in the lucrative group stages brings certainty both on the pitch and off it. ‘There’s so much uncertainty around it because, even in terms of your recruitment, you don’t know if you’re recruiting for Champions League or not,’ said the Parkhead boss. ‘You don’t know that until you go through the qualifiers, so there’s all these sort of unknowns and, usually at that time of year, you have players coming in at all different times, particularly with internationals and so forth. ‘You’re not really primed to perform, so it’s a challenging period. ‘Not having that just allows you to map out a pre-season of certainty in terms of friendly games and the kind of work we want to do with the players without worrying that we need to be at a good competitive level too early.’