Callum McGregor shares Celtic transfer thirst as he calls on board to back Brendan Rodgers this January

Callum McGregor has urged the Celtic board to back Brendan Rodgers’ January upgrade and accelerate the Hoops’ drive up the levels.

Rodgers made it clear after Tuesday’s Champions League exit that more quality was required if the club is serious about making progress on the continent next season. And McGregor echoed his manager after bowing out of this year’s competition with a 2-0 defeat to Lazio in Rome making it just one point from five group games deeming the Group E finale against Feyenoord next month a dead rubber.

The skipper wasn’t hiding from the need for an injection of top talent in the winter window to improve their standing in Europe’s elite competition next time round. Portuguese wide man Tiago Araujo is on the radar with the £4million Estoril star targeted to boost the left flank. But McGregor reckons the manager will be looking to strengthen across the board.

McGregor said: “We always need help. If you ask any manager how many new players does he want he will always say it’s as many as he can. And it’s the same for the players.

“We want as many good players coming through the door as we can. That builds competition in training and games all the time. And the level just accelerates from there. We want to continue to push as a club and as a group and I’m sure they will do that.”

Celtic brought in nine new faces in the summer window after Rodgers arrived for a second spell in charge to replace Ange Postecoglou Over £10million was spent on Maik Nawrocki, Gustaf Lagerbielke and Luis Palma while Odin Thiago Holm, Marco Tilio, Yang Hyun-jun and Kwon Hyeok-kyu also arrived for seven figure fees.

But while the champions sit top of the table on a domestic level they have fallen short in the Champions League. Despite