The Scottish Premiership side are looking to re-establish themselves on the European stage.
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers
Brendan Rodgers has explained to Herald Scotland what attributes Celtic’s targets during the January transfer window will boast in abundance.
The Hoops have won five Scottish Premiership titles in a row, and have made a perfect start on trying to add a sixth after beating Rangers 5-1 in the first Old Firm meeting of the season.
Celtic’s players looks dejected in the Nou Camp
However, the positive atmosphere around Parkhead was dealt a major blow in midweek as Barcelona thrashed them 7-0 at the Nou Camp to hand them their heaviest defeat in Europe ever.
And with Rodgers perhaps now looking at what is going to elevate the squad into a team that can make an impression both domestically and in the Champions League, he hinted at the kind of player the Hoops will be pursuing in the transfer market to help them take that next step.
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers
“The players here will be better players for these experiences, even the negative experience of the other night,” he told Herald Scotland, referring to the Barcelona defeat. “They will grow from that and be better going forward.
“We need certain profiles of players in order to help us as well. But there are certain physical attributes that you need, at that level in particular, that can help you. You look at the difference in speed and power and strength.
“It is something we tried to do in the summer, but we just didn’t have that availability of the player we would want. We came in with virtually the same group of players and brought in a few who could help us immediately, but of course we can’t solve all the problems in one hit.”
The Northern Irishman’s signings during the summer window suggested that he was looking to instil his philosophy of playing attractive football into his squad.
And while that was enough to comfortably defeat their Old Firm foes, it left them incredibly vulnerable against Barca as Luis Enrique’s men are arguably the blueprint for what attractive football can be.
Therefore, against teams like that, the Bhoys surely need to be able to adopt a slightly different style that makes them much more difficult to break down to give them the best chance of making an impact on the continental stage.
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