Brendan Rodgers admits he felt his Celtic squad was short of four quality players when he re-joined in the summer.
The champions of course sold Jota for £25m, while the likes of Aaron Mooy retired from the game.
The Hoops boss insists his aim was to add to the squad that was already in place from Ange Postecoglou's tenure.
The ex-Liverpool and Leicester City manager says the club is working hard to address the recruitment of 'established' type players over the next few transfer windows. He hopes this will help the club achieve its goal of progressing in the Champions League.
"The squad will come down to numbers," admitted the Irishman. "Obviously, like I say, we need to add quality.
"There's no dressing that up for the group, they lost some really quality players in the summer, so, that's something over the coming windows that we will look to improve on.
"I felt that when I came in during the summer, with the squad that was already in place from last season we probably needed four players - quality players - to add to the squad.
"To continue to improve and to grow you also need to have players that are established. The next step is the European side and that's why I came back, to hopefully be able to fulfill that in my time here."
Meanwhile, Mikey Johnston may not have played too much under previous Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou, spending a fair chunk of the time he was in Glasgow out on loan in Portugal. But it seems that he picked up a little of the Australian’s famous stubborn streak when it comes to his attacking principles.
That is a responsibility that comes, in Johnston’s view, with wearing a Celtic jersey. And it appears his current manager, Brendan Rodgers, thinks an adherence to the fabled ‘Celtic way’ of playing also comes with standing in the dugout. No matter what.
