Celtic will play PSV Eindhoven in the headline fixture of the Torneo Internacional de Fútbol de Maspalomas in Gran Canaria on January 10.
Rather than travel to Perth to face St Johnstone Ronny Deila’s side will take on the Dutch league leaders in a match that has caught the imagination of the large Celtic support throughout the Canary Isles.
The Celtic v PSV Eindhoven match will kick off at 12.15 on the Saturday and will be shown live on UK telly providing a 90 minute advert to the local tourist industry.
As well as the big Celtic support there is also a large Dutch contingent in the area which should ensure a competitive edge to the fixture as the hoops take a break in the sun ahead of a month that will go a long way to deciding the success of the season.
February cup ties against Sevco, Dundee and Inter Milan will put the SPFL schedule into the background.
The trip to Gran Canaria will take place in the middle of the transfer window with Deila hoping that the club’s business will mainly be incoming.
Twelve months ago Neil Lennon signed Stefan Johansen and Leigh Griffiths although the January is generally recognised as a difficult market to work in.
Looking forward to the transfer window opening Deila said: “You never know what’s going to happen, but what we know is we don’t have to sell anyone and that’s a good feeling for me and for the club. We want to keep our best players and that’s what we’re going to do, then we’ll see what happens.
“If we can get the players we want on 1 January we will get them in then. It’s going to be hard to get it arranged so quickly. The January window is more difficult than the summer as well, because the players you often want are playing and their teams are fighting to reach their goals, so it’s harder to get them out.
“We have good processes going on and we want to be a better team on 1 February than we are now. We are looking at specific positions and specific targets but I will keep them to myself.”
PSV will play Sparta Prague on Sunday January 11 with Celtic meeting the Czech side two days later. All three matches will be played at Municipal Stadium in San Fernando, San Bartolome de Tirajana, in the south of the island.