Brendan Rodgers sets out his Celtic transfer demands as O'Riley and Kyogo swirls come in 'big seven days'
Brendan Rodgers admits the next seven days are massive for Celtic if they are to realise his ambitions of making progress in the Champions League.
The Parkhead boss wants business done to improve a squad he admits is running at the same level as last season. And he insists the Hoops won’t entertain any last minute bids for his top stars - with the first Old Firm game of the season coming just two days after Friday’s 11pm deadline. Brighton are closing in on a deal for Matt O’Riley and Manchester City are keen on Kyogo.
Meanwhile, Celtic are stepping up deadline busting moves of their own with Los Angeles playmaker Mateusz Bogus a target along with £10m Augsburg midfielder Arne Engels and Sheffield United defender Auston Trusty. And asked if there was enough time left in the window to do what he wants, Rodgers said: “Time will tell. It’s a big seven days for us.
“I’m confident we can do that. Sometimes it’s waiting for the right player. We might have seen him but then he’s decided to go somewhere else. Sometimes that takes a bit of time. We will see come the end of the window where we’re at.”
Celtic have so far spent £12million signing two loan stars from last season - Adam Idah and Paulo Bernardo - on permanent deals while goalkeepers Kasper Schmeichel and Viljami Sinisalo have also arrived. But Rodgers is adamant players don’t need to leave before he can bring more in.
He said: “No, because we haven’t spent a great deal of money in terms of where we expect to be at as a club. I would be looking at us to do business and it shouldn’t be reliant on players going out.
“We are virtually running at the same as we were last season. If our idea is to improve, we should be looking to be active in the market.
“We are pretty