'We need more depth' - Rodgers eyes quality reinforcements
Brendan Rodgers says greater strength and depth in his Celtic squad is “definitely required” as he prepares for a summer recruitment drive.
The Celtic boss, who has steered the club to the verge of the title in his first season back in Glasgow, will need a replacement for retiring goalkeeper Joe Hart while he hinted he aims to strengthen the defence.
The end of loan deals for Paulo Bernardo and Adam Idah is also set to create vacancies in midfield and attack.
“There’s definitely certain positions we would want to have finalised sooner rather than later,” said Rodgers.
“Ideally, if we can do that it would be great but what’s really important for us for this summer is getting the level of quality that I want into the squad. That will be absolutely key for the growth of this team.
“The guys this season have been absolutely fantastic but next season we need more depth in the squad.
“I go back a little bit to my past here – I was going away to Ross County and making eight changes and I was bringing guys like Stuart Armstrong and Ryan Christie into that team. These guys have shown they are Premier League quality.
“I remember taking the team to Dubai at our training camp and the second team beat the starters 5-0, and that gave me great food for thought when we came back for the second part of the season. And it was a proper game of football.
“So that told me the depth that’s required and I think that’s something that’s definitely required here.
“We probably lost a bit of that in the summer and there’s no doubt we will need to restructure that. We have some fantastic players here and we want to add to that.”
Celtic are restructuring their transfer approach following the resignation of Mark Lawwell, who was head of first-team scouting and recruitment, and lead first-team scout Joe Dudgeon.
When asked if chief executive Michael Nicholson and others in the club hierarchy are all on the same page as him, Rodgers said: “I have got nothing but support from Michael and the people here.
“But going forward we need to ensure the football structure is very much there and what it is we want to bring in.”
