Brendan Rodgers looks to be fulfilling his squad aims at Celtic amid outgoings

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Celtic’s squad has rapidly come down in size in the last two windows after Brendan Rodgers made it clear he wanted to trim the group he has to work with at Lennoxtown.

Previously, the Irishman had outlined a vision of a squad consisting of 25 players, three of whom would be goalkeepers, to allow room for youngsters to develop and fill fringe roles in the side.

He stated last December: “Ideally, we’d have a squad of 25 players, 22 with three goalkeepers. In which case, there will also be an opportunity for young players to come through, as that’s always my first look.”

Admittedly, that seemed a long shot, with 32 listed first-team players at the club. However, according to my calculations, Celtic have significantly reduced their numbers. These are subject to change amid the potential for late incomings this window.

That figure has now hit 25, including Liam Shaw and Adam Montgomery, who aren’t near the forefront of Rodgers’ plans. There is room for movement in both directions before Friday’s deadline, but soliciting exits for fringe players may have given Celtic the platform for a grandstand finish to the summer.

Celtic and the importance of outgoings

It should be noted that both figures above exclude players that are on loan elsewhere from Celtic. Moving on, it shows the importance of draining excess to avoid having a squad that is simply too big to manage.

In January, David Turnbull and Yosuke Ideguchi left the club (alongside a string of loanees). Shortly after that window, Liel Abada left for Charlotte FC, and Alexandro Bernabei went on loan to Internacional.

I could bore you with the details of everyone who entered the departure lounge, but I’m sure you get the picture.

This summer, Celtic have really started to move the dial on exits. Keeping the focus on semi-prominent stars, Joe Hart’s retirement was followed by Benjamin Siegrist, Hyeongyu Oh, Rocco Vata, Daniel Kelly, Matt O’Riley, Bosun Lawal, Hyeokkyu Kwon and Marco Tilio, among others, taking their leave.

Gustaf Lagerbielke has officially left for Twente on loan, adding another familiar face to the list, while James McCarthy has been removed from the official club website. Make of that what you will.

So why is this important? O’Riley and Abada aside, most of these players weren’t bonafide first choices, whereas some have barely kicked a ball in anger for Celtic.

By carrying out a cull, which could continue further this week, Rodgers has created an environment for a smaller group of players to work with that will have a higher emphasis on quality. That sounds familiar; you only need to look at his first tenure to see that the proof is in the pudding.

Having a core lighter on personnel but high in pedigree also helps to breed healthy competition rather than some members of the dressing room being unhappy. Everyone will get their chance over the course of a long season.

Now, it is up to Celtic to finish the week with a flourish in the market. Should they do that, their hard yards in making room available for new recruits will have been worth the graft.