Brendan Rodgers’ plans for the January transfer window are already well underway.
During the summer the new Celtic boss resisted the temptation of wholesale changes with just five players brought in.
Dorus de Vries and Cristian Gamboa have yet to make a real impression but Moussa Dembele, Scott Sinclair and Kolo Toure have been central to the way the team has been reshaped.
Rodgers has also handed new contracts to Tom Rogic and James Forrest while players like Scott Brown and Mikael Lustig have rediscovered the levels of form that evaded them under the Ronny Deila regime.
Towards the close of the summer transfer window the Irishman was looking to bring in a dominating, creative midfielder but those plans fell through with James McCarthy strongly linked with a move back to Glasgow.
Most managers like to be judged over three or four transfer windows with the Celtic boss looking forward to returning to the market in the new year.
“I’ve never been one to stockpile players but if the right ones are available and they can improve us, we’ll definitely do it,” Rodgers explained.
“It’s an important window for Celtic, with one eye on potential Champions League qualifiers in the summer.
“If you can get them in then, before going on to finish your job by winning the league, it can really help.
“It’s the reverse of England. It’s a vitally important window for us if you have ideas of going into European competitions so early in the summer. It gives a new player a bedding in process before hopefully kicking on.”
Before the defeat from Borussia Monchengladbach Rodgers had outlined the blueprint for the way that he wanted to see his side play.
Unfortunately it was the Germans that handed out a footballing lesson, playing the type of game that Rodgers had described in the build up to the match.
“I spoke even before the Borussia game of where I wanted this team to get to,” the hoops boss added. “On Wednesday night, you could see why.
“To compete at that level you need to have the qualities of power, speed and a high level
of technique.
“I know where I’m at with this club, I’m very clear of what my intention is at Celtic – I’m here to build.
“You can’t just snap your fingers and do that but the players here now are working really well.
“What you saw on Wednesday night was us losing to one of the real top sides in Europe.
“Along the way we made a couple of errors. But we’re on our way and it’s been exciting so far. There will always be a couple of wee bumps.
“We’re already thinking about January, that process is on-going. Of course, it’s all about availability but in my career so far I’ve done decent business in that window.”
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