Brendan Rodgers won’t be bringing in any bench-warmers to Celtic.
The hoops boss has a massive squad to chose from as he demonstrated on Tuesday when Celtic played two matches on the same day without four players on World Cup duty.
Olivier Ntcham arrived from Manchester City a year ago to fulfil that purpose but Jonny Hayes, Kundai Benyu and others had less luck while January signings Marvin Compper and Jack Hendry have still to make the big breakthrough.
Celtic fans have been getting restless waiting for signings with the competitive action just four days away.
Since lifting the Scottish Cup in May Stuart Armstrong and Patrick Roberts have left the club although Odsonne Edouard has returned on a new long term deal.
Defence looks like the area most in need of strengthening with Rodgers determined to wait for the right player to bring in.
“We need to strengthen, we have a core squad that’s very strong and we want to add to that,” the Celtic boss explained to the Daily Record.
“But I don’t need to add guys who will be on the bench. I want guys who can come in and affect the team. It’s going to take a bit of time and negotiation.
“To improve, the reality is that there has to be investment. We can’t deny that but the players here have developed very well, players who have been fantastic for two years.
“To bring someone in who is ahead of them is going to take money.”
Celtic face Shamrock Rovers today in their final friendly before flying to Armenia to take on Alashkert on Tuesday, kick off 5pm Celtic Park Time.
