How Brendan Rodgers’ current Celtic first-team squad compares to season 2024/25

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The Celtic transfer window furore is still rumbling on this week.

After watching Celtic add just Sebastian Tounekti to the ranks and allowing Adam Idah to leave the Bhoys, the Hoops squad looks significantly weaker coming out of the summer transfer window.

Fans have vented their frustration at the Celtic board after they were left scrambling in the final minutes of deadline day to strengthen the team.

But has the team actually been strengthened? The vast majority of Celtic supporters will say no. So 67 Hail Hail decided to take a look at how the Hoops squad looked at the end of the 2024 transfer window compared to now.

And it doesn’t look good.

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Celtic’s 2024/25 first-team squad

Here is the Celtic squad that came out of the summer 2024 transfer window.

• Goalkeepers: Viljami Sinisalo, Kasper Schmeichel, Scott Bain
• Defenders: Cameron Carter-Vickers, Auston Trusty, Liam Scales, Maik Nawrocki, Stephen Welsh, Álex Valle, Greg Taylor, Adam Montgomery, Alistair Johnston, Anthony Ralston
• Midfielders: Callum McGregor, Tomoki Iwata, Hyeokkyu Kwon, Matt O’Riley, Reo Hatate, Arne Engels, Paulo Bernardo, Luke McCowan, Odin Thiago Holm
• Forwards: Daizen Maeda, Mikey Johnston, Luis Palma, Nicolas Kühn, Hyunjun Yang, James Forrest, Kyogo Furuhashi, Adam Idah, Johnny Kenny

Having the likes of Kyogo Furuhashi and Matt O’Riley, Celtic fans would bite the club’s hands off for that.

So how does this squad stand up to the team Brendan Rodgers currently has at his disposal?

Let’s take a look.

Celtic’s 2025/26 first-team squad

The squad was trimmed dramatically this summer as Rodgers and Celtic moved on players the manager barely used last season.

So this is how the current Celtic squad stands right now.

• Goalkeepers: Viljami Sinisalo, Kasper Schmeichel, Ross Doohan
• Defenders: Cameron Carter-Vickers, Auston Trusty, Jahmai Simpson-Pusey, Liam Scales, Hayato Inamura, Dane Murray, Kieran Tierney, Marcelo Saracchi, Alistair Johnston, Anthony Ralston
• Midfielders: Callum McGregor, Reo Hatate, Arne Engels, Paulo Bernardo, Luke McCowan
• Forwards: Daizen Maeda, Jota, Michel-Ange Balikwisha, Sebastian Tounekti, Benjamin Nygren, Hyunjun Yang, James Forrest, Kelechi Iheanacho, Shin Yamada, Johnny Kenny, Callum Osmand

The drop-off in quality is frightening. No Kyogo, Matt O’Riley, Greg Taylor and Adam Idah shows that the Celtic squad-depth has dropped dramatically.

The lack of quality in depth is concerning, as Brendan Rodgers needs to rely on 34-year-old James Forrest to be one of the key attackers for the season is scary.

Many Celtic supporters will agree that no matter what the club do in terms of adding more free agents, the current squad simply does not compare to the one fans enjoyed at the start of last season.