Ange Postecoglou has insisted that Celtic will be better off without Josip Juranovic and Giorgos Giakoumakis in the long term.
A lot of Hoops fans were sad to see Juranovic being sold to Union Berlin and also worried that the firepower will be diminished with Giakoumakis' impending move to Atlanta United in Major League Soccer.
However, Celtic will potentially pull in over £14million from the transfers and have been able to recruit four younger players for less than half of that amount in Alistair Johnston, Yuki Kobayashi, Oh Hyeon-gyu and Tomoki Iwata, who is initially on loan.
READ MORE: The Celtic key trait that stands them apart from Rangers and everybody else claims Michael Stewart
He told Sky Sports: "With the business we've done, if Giakoumakis goes, we have moved on two players who are 27/28 and bought in four who are under 24 for less money - and I think that will make us stronger in the long term.
"There was an opportunity this window and I had an inkling that some of our more significant players would move on in Josip Juranovic and particularly Giorgos Giakoumakis.
"I thought it was important we got ahead of the game with players who potentially could replace them. If we didn't lose those players I was comfortable with that, as a club there wasn't a need to sell, but there was a unique opportunity for us if the boys moved on.
"It's not about forcing players out, it's just about opportunities. There is a model there that the club has worked on for a long time where you try to maximise the potential of your players, but there won't be an intent game to move players out.
"But if we have interest from for other clubs and it's a good deal for everyone involved, we want to be ready for that and our strategy is to try to be a step ahead of what could come at us."
The Greek striker has still to officially complete his move to the States and Postecoglou seems tired of the whole affair. He added: "To be honest, it’s not on my radar any more. I will probably hear it about the same time as you guys. Maybe, if you are on Instagram, you will hear about it earlier than me."
READ MORE
- Ange Postecoglou in Daizen Maeda 'menace' tag as Celtic boss hails Greg Taylor and Kyogo Furuhashi
- Joe Hart's four word Celtic send off to Oliver Abildgaard after transfer switch to Hellas Verona
