Brendan Rodgers dropped a very big hint this weekend about Celtic bringing in a top player before the transfer window closes.
Speaking to the media after our victory over St Johnstone, he once again reiterated his intention to bring in at least one more player before the window shuts next week, and the suggestion is there that it’ll be a big name.
I wrote just last week about why I believe Brendan Rodgers will break Celtic’s transfer record.
I do not expect it to be this season, but he has talked about it often enough to suggest it’s something he’d be willing to do, as long as it’s the right player.
Several big names have already been linked with us in this window, and there will be others dropped into the mix before the window closes next week; I’ll be writing about one of them later on today. It seems certain that Celtic will try to entice a player from the very top drawer to the club over the next week, with Champions League football as the big attraction.
Brendan realises the importance of this, and he talked about it during the interview.
His opening statement definitely suggested that talks between the club and certain players have already taken place.
It’s a very positive development.
“They are all receptive, yeah,’ he said, when asked whether the club reaching the Champions League would be a draw for big players. “The market explodes doesn’t it? The whole thing explodes when you make the Champions League. But we have to get there first.
“We’ve put ourselves in a brilliant position if you look across Europe at the scores in the Champions League or the Europa League. But we are focused. If we can get through, there will be a bit of work to do between then and when the market shuts.”
He also knows the type of player he wants, and the specific qualities that player would have to possess to get into the Celtic team.
“You have to be athletic, you have to be able to press. You can’t run forward if you can’t run back, that’s one of my rules for a team,” he said. “The athleticism, the mobility, the hunger, the intensity has to be there and they have to be leading their life right. If that’s a big name, great, and if we can do it, great, but if not we just get the best possible player we can.”
Somewhere in Brendan’s desk drawer is a wish list of footballers. We can only speculate at the moment as to who might be on it, but if we reach the Promised Land tomorrow night our chances of getting at least one of the names on it are awesomely enhanced.
Brendan definitely wants a big name.
We deserve one.
Once Tuesday’s over with, the pressure will be on the board to deliver it.
In Brendan We Trust.
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