Brendan Rodgers insists there will be no marquee £15m-£20m signing for Celtic this summer; the club have made five new additions so far; Celtic kick off their Scottish Premiership title defence on Saturday against Ross County, live on Sky Sports
Saturday 5 August 2023 16:03, UK
Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers insists there will be no £15m-£20m player joining this summer as he gives an insight into the club's recruitment policy.
In an exclusive interview with Sky Sports News, the returning manager revealed he will rely heavily on head of recruitment Mark Lawwell as he looks to strengthen his squad ahead of the start of the Scottish Premiership season and their Champions League campaign.
The club have made five summer signings so far and although further additions are planned, Rodgers has shut down any talk of a marquee signing.
"I think everyone looks and thinks that we might be bringing in a £15m-£20m player, now the reality is that that won't be the case," he said.
"It's not what the club is based on, but that doesn't mean there are not talented players out there that we want.
"There's still quite a way to go in the window. So we'll look to improve the squad again and continue with that.
"We've done a lot of early business, which has been great and now allows the players to come in and settle and, of course, we want to do so more, but I'm quite calm in that."
Celtic appointed Lawwell, son of ex-chief executive and current chairman Peter, as the club's new head of first-team scouting and recruitment in May 2022.
He had previously worked with former manager Ange Postecoglou at Yokohama F Marinos, one of 10 clubs part-owned by CFG.
While Postecoglou always insisted he had the final say on every signing, Rodgers has revealed the process will be very much a team effort.
"I will work with the club on that. Mark Lawwell, who heads up the recruitment team here, has done a fantastic job," the former Leicester boss added.
"It's a market he knows really, really well from his previous job. So he understands the players and but he's also got a very good team of people behind them, so I trust in their work.
"Of course, there will always be names put forward to me and I'll have a look at it.
"Some of those players were identified before I came in so it was about giving the blessing, and some of them being identified while we have been in so it's just a continuation of working together, which is important.
"I know where the club is at, I know the model that's in place and we hope that we can maximise that and then develop the players on the field.
"It has to fit in with the model of the club which is important, it always is that.
"As a modern manager in the modern game, it's very, very difficult to do what you did years ago and be out watching players every night of the week.
"The game has changed so you're really relying on your recruitment team and you see here the players that have come in. You won't get absolutely everyone right and that's based purely on the basis of players sometimes maybe not adapting to a country that they come into, but there's a lot of great work.
"It's a really comprehensive structure that's in place here to try and mitigate as many of those circumstances as they can and then allow the player to come in and really flourish in an environment which is made for development."
Rodgers enjoyed a perfect domestic record during his first spell as Celtic manager, winning two Scottish Premiership titles, two Scottish Cups and three League Cups.
Rangers had just returned to the top flight and in his two full seasons at Celtic Park, Aberdeen finished second.
"When I came here the first time the talk was about Rangers being promoted and they'd beaten Celtic well in a semi-final game," he said. "So they were coming back, Aberdeen were very strong as were some of the teams.
"Rangers are investing and will want to be strong and the other teams will be investing as well and looking to you to keep closing the gaps.
"But my focus is primarily on Celtic and making us the very best that we can be, developing the players and looking to get a performance level as consistently as we can.
"It will be the same coming in this time. It's a challenge, of course, but Celtic's about winning and it's about winning style.
"There was nothing nostalgic about coming back, I'm here to win and here to do in a way that this club was based on which is a stylish brand of football.
"The targets are pretty much the same. We go into every game we want to win. We arrive into the Champions League and into European football, which of course is a huge jump up in terms of challenge, but we want to be really competitive and see what we can do whilst we're in Europe, whether it's Champions League, or any other competition.
"Domestically, you have to look after your bread and butter first and we work from there."
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