Last week, Celtic paved their way into the group stages of the Champions League, despite their 4-3 loss at the hands of FC Astana in the second leg of the Champions League play-offs. The Bhoys had earlier secured a stupendous 5-0 victory over the Kazakhstan based outfit in the first leg and thus, the aggregate score line happened to be 4-8 in favour of the Scottish giants.
On Saturday, Brendan Rodgers’ men could chisel out merely a point from their latest Scottish Premiership outing which ended in a 1-1 draw against St Johnstone. Steve MacLean earned the lead for Tommy Wright’s minutes before the interval, which was cancelled out by Callum McGregor’s strike in the second half. Testaments have started to emerge indicating the loopholes which Celtic have in their ranks.
Unlike their arch rivals Rangers, the Hoops haven’t really been busy this summer in terms of his recruitments as Olivier Ntcham, Kundai Benyu and Jonny Hayes have been their only additions.
Under the tutelage of Brendan Rodgers, Celtic won the domestic treble last season and it goes without saying that the yardsticks to cater to would be higher this season, probably their targets would also include bettering their stature in European elite club level competition.
The Glasgow based club will have to face Anderlecht, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich in the group stage and thus, they must appear more ambitious and try to make a late dash to chalk out some deals before the summer transfer window shuts down. Apparently, the Manchester City’s winger Patrick Roberts is now in Glasgow for his medical, ahead of a loan move yet again this summer.
At the end of last season, Roberts completed his loan spell of eighteen months and undoubtedly, he became a fan favourite at the Celtic Park. He returned to his parent club after the end of his spell in Scotland but owing to the plethora of attack-minded players Pep Guardiola has in his ranks, the 20-year-old is unlikely to blossom and thus, another loan spell with a big club like Celtic should be an appealing move for the starlet.
The Englishman has accumulated plenty of experience of Scottish football and is a player who acclimatized well under the tactical nous of the former Liverpool boss. Besides, Celtic do need to uplift the quality of their ranks to stand tall against the upcoming animosities and by luring someone as prolific as Roberts could meet their needs.
