da stake casino： As reported by The Daily Record, Brendan Rodgers has outlined business he’d like to do in January to prepare for next summer’s gruelling UEFA Champions League qualifying schedule.
What’s the story?
da dobrowin： The Hoops face playing a maximum of eight qualifying matches in eight weeks next year, overlapping with the World Cup in Russia, and with four first-team players set to feature for their countries that could leave Brendan Rodgers’ squad short.
To that end, Rodgers is targeting January as a month to get business done in an effort to provide cover in key areas, none more so than at right-back.
As quoted by The Daily Record, the Celtic boss said:
It’s the way it is. We have to prepare for that in the next window to ensure we’re covered. Gamboa and Lustig are right-sided defensive players so that’s a key area for us because we don’t want to be left short. Tony Ralston can cover but it’s an area we need to consider. We have been short in certain areas over the last two summers, so January is a big window for us if we feel we need to do something.
It’s all set to be a very interesting month on and off the field for the Scottish champions. Can they attract the kind of talent that further improves what is a squad already performing at a high level?
What do Celtic need?
Aside from the adding depth in the right-back positions as Brendan Rodgers noted, Celtic could do with reinforcements in other key areas.
Central defence is probably the big one with injury problems plaguing the position this season. Jozo Simunovic, Dedryck Boyata and Erik Sviatchenko haven’t all been fit at the same time, leading to players like Nir Bitton having to play out of position.
Perhaps adding quality cover to the left wing area would be prudent too, with just Jonny Hayes available to provide cover for Scott Sinclair, a talent who hasn’t really proven he can step into the Englishman’s boots.
The Hoops are already performing to a high standard, but select quality in key areas could take them to the next level and allow them to compete in the latter stages of the UEFA Europa League, where it looks like they’re heading after Christmas.