Ange Postecoglou's Celtic transfer World Cup 'insulation' and the 3 positions that could be on his mind

His transfer hit-rate has been as impressive as anything Ange Postecoglou has coached his Celtic team into serving up on the pitch and another example of the "we never stop" mantra.

Three players who changed the course of the title race last January in Matt O'Riley, Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate all arrived in the January window and the indications are the Parkhead boss is ready to go again this winter. His plans are, in part, being influenced by the Qatar 2022 World Cup. Postecoglou admitted last week that Celtic must prepare for the possibility of their top players being poached in the tournament's aftermath, revealing he wants to "insulate" his squad against such an outcome.

He said: "We showed last year that we always want to stay ahead of the game. Last January, without certainty or being able to predict the future, we thought about certain positions and what was needed. We’re doing the same again this year. We have already started planning and have identified the targets that we need.

“We will look to bring in players in January that hopefully then insulates us in case any of our players are taken off our hands. It’s part of our planning and we’re well underway in ensuring we are ready for that. Mark knows how I look at things and we’re planning for the next two, three, four windows - and trying to project what gaps we potentially might have. We look at the age demographic of our list and we have a lot in the younger bracket at the moment.

“We know that in the next few years that will progress and some of our players will move on. So we’ve got to make sure that we have players in the age group underneath who we can bring in and develop. You don’t just look at what the immediate concerns are, you look at medium