Ange Postecoglou confirmed Celtic ’s bid for Dylan Reid but insisted his immediate priority is adding big-hitters to his title-winning squad.
The Hoops have had a £125,000 bid for the St Mirren youngster accepted but Rangers also tabled an offer last week and it remains to be seen if they come in and match their rival's bid. Postecoglou admitted that if the Scotland under-17 international does sign then he would go into the B team. The Celtic recruitment team are working hard on top team targets but Postecoglou doesn’t expect any incomings over the next day or so but there could be movement out with Portuguese side Arouca being linked with a move for midfielder Ismaila Soro.
Postecoglou said: “I think (Dylan Reid) that’s more for our B team and academy. Again, I’d love to be the man for everything, but I have my limitations in terms of what I’m focused on at the moment. Other people are in charge of that area.
“I think between now and whenever the window closes, it (first-team transfers)will always be imminent, but is anything going to happen in the next 24 hours? Unlikely.
“We need to bring in at least a couple of more players and we’re working on that, and in terms of exits, there’s obviously some stuff going on in the background with some players. My focus is more on the guys who are here and the boys we’re trying to bring in.”
Celtic were left disappointed with yesterday’s 3-3 draw with Rapid Vienna in the Allianz Stadium. The Hoops had been ahead three times and were left gutted by the Austrians equaliser with the final touch of the game. Postecoglou was also able to give 21 of his first-team players run outs.
The Celtic boss said: “It was a great game. Sometimes with these friendly games, you worry whether the intensity might not be quite there.
“At times, it was like a real contest, which was brilliant. Credit to Rapid and our boys, they made it into a real, competitive game with the crowd out there as well. I thought it was a really worthwhile exercise.
“It’s a game we can take stuff out of. We can really analyse well, knowing that it was full of intensity and competition. We can give the guys positive feedback on the stuff we did well and the stuff we need to enforce to keep improving. Sometimes in friendly games things can get disguised but I thought for the whole game it was a good contest.”
Celtic looked good going forward but they lost a couple of poor goals, with a number of key defenders missing. Postecoglou, speaking about the blunder between Cameron Carter-Vickers and Joe Hart for the first goal, said “It’s a mistake mate. Mistakes happen.
“I don’t focus on those kinds of things. There are other things I thought, especially in the first half.
“The lads were just a little bit careless with the ball at times, particularly in transition. We had a couple of really unbelievable moments in transition. In the goal we scored, we were fantastic.
“At other times, we were taking too many touches or were playing it long and that’s just not our game. They’re the kind of things you address. We conceded a goal from a mistake but they are human beings. There were other elements in that first half. We had some really good stuff and some really poor stuff.”
Right backs Josip Juranovic and Anthony Ralston both missed this game through injury but Postecoglou confirmed both will be fit for Wednesday’s trip to Bank Ostrava.
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