CELTIC manager Brendan Rodgers will look to trim the fat from his squad in January, as he aims to offload some fringe players as well as bringing in some ‘quality’ additions who can make an immediate impact on his starting XI.
Rodgers is currently running with 32 senior players, some of whom have little chance of playing regular first team football under him at this stage in their careers.
He is hoping to find more suitable clubs for many of those players in the new year to get them the game time they need to help their development, and he says that he won’t be looking to add any more project signings in the immediate future.
“It is more quality than quantity, for me,” Rodgers said.
“I think there will be more out than coming in. I think there will be players who will be here for six months and won’t have played.
“Like I’ve said before, it is no fault of them. The squad is obviously a lot bigger than I would want. So, I think there will be more players who will look to go out and get game time.
“And of course, hopefully over the coming windows we can look to improve the quality of the squad.
“Listen, we have enough - what I would say - development players. I think it is clear. And I love that, it is what I have done all my life is work with those players. But you certainly need ones that can come in [and make an immediate impact].
“We already have a number of those development players, so it is genuine quality we hope we can bring in across the coming windows.
“Your squads are 25, which is 22 plus three goalkeepers. It is not ideal. I think there were younger players that were going to come in and see how they develop.
“Then there was the notion, which I know for sure was the case, that there were some guys that were thinking of leaving before I came in. Then obviously a new manager comes in and there can be a change of heart. They don’t leave, they stay and that is how your squad ends up where it is at.
“So, it is that mixture between players coming in to develop and ones that decided to stay and not move on. But I think over the course of the next couple of windows we’ll get the squad down to a workable group.”
Rodgers will look to sit down with those players who aren’t in either his immediate or long-term plans in the coming weeks.
“I haven’t [spoken to them] as of yet,” he said.
“Just after the window shut it was a case of speaking then to some of the players that didn’t get out.
“I said, listen let’s see how we go over the course of the next six months. If it doesn’t quite work out with game time then, of course, we’ll look at it in January.
“Some of those players have had game time, and will be happy, and there will be others that feel they will want to play.”
