Brendan Rodgers has shared he would ideally have a squad of no more than 25 first-team players at Celtic, far below the current numbers registered with the club.
Currently, there are 32 players listed by Celtic as first-team players, inclusive of three goalkeepers. There’s more out on loan too including Sead Haksabanovic and Yosuke Ideguchi.
It leaves the recruitment staff with a massive task over the next few transfer windows to reduce the numbers working under Rodgers, per his wishes.
Not only do many need to move on, but the manager has also called for a better quality of player to arrive.
Brendan Rodgers on Celtic squad size
The Celtic boss said this weekend [The Scotsman]: “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.
“Throughout my career you’ll see a whole host of young players that I’ve always put in, guys who are 17, 18, 19 or 20. I’ve always looked to that enthusiasm and rawness of a player to bring in.
“So I’ve always looked from within. If it’s not here for whatever reason then you need to bring in from the outside.
“You cannot just have a team of really young players. You’re never going to extract that potential out of them unless you have that experience beside them.
“Also, there is the number of games you play. If you solely rely on young players for game after game after game then they don’t have the games in their legs.”
The cuts will almost certainly begin in January with several players on the fringes barely making match squads never mind earning regular minutes under Rodgers.
Celtic have to take a ruthless approach here and start bringing the squad into the parameters that the manager has set. Lean, mean and ready to improve.
In other news, The latest Celtic return timeline for Reo Hatate.
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