‘Strong Celtic slow in the market’

With a healthy bank balance and seven of the last nine domestic trophies vying for space in their shiny display cabinets, it’s fair to say Celtic are operating from a position of strength.

The champions will be heavy favourites when it comes to this season’s league title. As I write, Matt O’Riley, Kyogo Furuhashi and Reo Hatate are all still in the building and all stood out in the recent friendly wins over big-name English opposition across the pond.

That said, the fact that only two goalkeepers have been signed so far this summer is a tad odd.

Where are all the outfield additions of quality manager Brendan Rodgers has been calling for since before the turn of the year? Are the Parkhead money men waiting to see whether they’ll get £20m-plus for O’Riley, who seems almost certain to be sold?

With the incoming Champions League money – added to the cash reserves already there – surely the board can afford to loosen the purse-strings regardless of the Danish star’s seemingly imminent departure?

This would depend, of course, on just how ambitious the club really is. Are they content to simply keep ticking along at the top of the domestic pile? Or will they give serious shrift to Rodgers’ oft-declared desire to have a proper crack at European football’s premier competition?

I must admit to finding it somewhat curious that the previous manager’s business always seemed to be done promptly, tidily and with an absolute minimum of fuss. Ange Postecoglou had the players identified, signed and bedded in early in most of his transfer windows.

The same has conspicuously not been the case under Brendan Rodgers. I’m not convinced many of last summer’s signings were ‘his’ players. What’s undeniable is the lack of impact most of them made.

You’d give Luis Palma pass marks, and that’s probably it. The manager wanted big reinforcements in January and got Nicolas Kuhn and a half-season loan of Adam Idah. Both good additions, it should be stressed, with the German continuing to settle in well if the summer friendlies are anything to go by.

A good pre-season can work wonders for a player. Idah may well come back from Norwich permanently but the length of time that deal is taking suggests a bit of gamesmanship on both sides of the negotiating table. Norwich want top dollar, naturally, while Celtic won’t pay over the odds.

A striker, a midfielder and at least a couple of defensive reinforcements are needed to improve what’s an already strong-looking side. Before a ball has been kicked domestically, Celtic already look pretty sharp. Just ask Man City and Chelsea.

But if the Scottish champions don’t want to stand still – and want to realise their manager’s ambitions of European respectability complementing domestic dominance – the quality players he’s been requesting for the better part of a year ought really to be arriving. And sharpish. The Parkhead faithful will let the board know pretty quickly if they feel they’re being short-changed.