Ange Postecoglou is looking to have his new look squad in place for Celtic’s pre-season trip to Austria.
Celtic’s January transfer window is widely acknowledged as being the telling factor in deciding this season’s; Premiership title race.
Planning well in advance Reo Hatate, Yosuke Ideguchi and Daizen Maeda were announced before the bells chimed in 2022, when Riley McGree opted for Middlesbrough from Birmingham City Celtic quickly switched attention to Matt O’Riley with no regrets from anyone involved.
That focussed approach reaped plenty of rewards with 14 wins and two draws since the new year teeing up a title party at Tannadice tonight if that run is extended to match 17.
Avoiding the Champions League qualifying process is a major dividend from winning the title, proving Postecoglou with clarity as he plots into next season.
Looking towards the summer transfer window, the Celtic boss told the Daily Record:
The work has already started, we’re already planning and I’ve already had conversations with the club about the kind of players we want to identify and bring into the club.
Our priority is to try to get that done early so that come pre-season, with us hopefully winning the Premiership and getting straight into the group stage, we know we’ve got a really good opportunity in pre-season to work with the group of players without the pressure of competition.
Non-international players will return to Lennoxtown towards the end of June with the full squad based in Austria for a 10 day training camp with matches from early July.
Celtic’s first competitive match of the 2022/23 season will be on the weekend of July 30 when the SPFL openers are played.
Mohaned Jeahze of Hammarby looks like being the first summer signing with a fee around £2m expected to secure the Iraqi international left-back.
