Brendan Rodgers, the Celtic manager, has no doubt that he will be backed by the club in the current transfer window.

Rodgers delivered a Treble in a season in which Celtic went unbeaten in their domestic campaign but the 44-year-old is keen to use that success as the foundation in which to elevate the Parkhead side to a higher level. That will require investment in the playing squad, something that he remains confident will materialise if players that he has targeted prove to be viable options for the Parkhead side.

Celtic have signed Jonny Hayes in a £1.3m move from Aberdeen but the club support are itching for a marquee name to lend the perceived quality required to make an impact at Champions League level.

“Over the course of my time, both and off the field, we want to bring a real stability and a great stability to Celtic,” Rodgers said in a wide-ranging interview on Celtic TV. “Obviously on the field is where it matters, that is where the club can grow from your success on the field, so we need to keep investing in the team both in the technical and tactical terms and in terms of investment to keep improving the playing squad.

“But that is something that has been made very clear and I have had great support since I have been here that when the right players become available and if they are available we will do everything we can to bring them in. Alongside that, I still think there is great growth in the players we already have. If I think of the development of a lot of the players this season, they are still young.

“The average age of the squad is 25 and that tells you that there is still a few years left of real good development within the squad itself. Now that we have a defined way of playing, a defined way of working, the confidence and quality of that can only increase.”

Meanwhile, Rodgers has also revealed that England goalkeeper Joe Hart was hugely complimentary about Leigh Griffiths. The pair met in Majorca following Scotland’s 2-2 draw with England at Hampden earlier this month, a game in which the Celtic striker beat Hart in quick succession with two free-kicks late in the game.

The goals ensured that Griffiths saw his name in lights but it was the overall quality of his performance that enthused Rodgers. The Celtic manager was critical at various points of last season about Griffiths’ lifestyle off the pitch and the number of injuries he felt it contributed to, but he was an appreciative spectator he watched him lead the line for Gordon Strachan’s side.

“Before he had the free-kicks, I thought he was outstanding,” said Rodgers. “As someone who wants to develop players, I am looking at his all-round game. He pressed at the top end of the field and it was very difficult for him at times because Scotland were slotted into 5-4-1 when they didn’t have the ball and the ball was coming forward but he was putting Chris Smalling and Gary Cahill under real pressure. I thought he pressed very well and with real intelligence in the game.

“With the ball, I thought his set-up play was exceptional, he didn’t give away too many balls. The quality of his first-touch was very good and his link-up play in terms of his overall game was very, very good.

“You know with Leigh Griffiths that at whatever level he is playing at, from 25 yards in he is as good as you will see. He has this incredible knack of that. I bumped into Joe Hart when I was away on holiday and he commented on the level of free-kick and Joe has faced many top class players. But to do it in a game of that magnitude… you know, the first one is Leigh all day, he has great swerve, great bend. “He was close earlier on with a free-kick if you remember in the game when he hit it really well but it just didn’t come in enough. But to do it in quick succession, to get that composure, to not just do it on the goalkeeper’s left but to do it on his right-side, they were two goals that were worthy of winning the game. It was unfortunate to concede late on but his performance and his two goals were exceptional.” Rodgers also remarked that he has had time to fully absorb the success of last season when he wrote his name into the club’s history books, describing the campaign as one which game him “immense pleasure” and a “memories for a lifetime.”

Celtic are expected to kick off their UEFA Champions League qualifiers with a game in Belfast, assuming that the Northern Irish side overcome San Marino minnows La Fiorita in their opening qualifier, the first leg of which takes place next week.

The date of the potential tie against Linfield and Celtic has been switched from the 12th July to Friday the 14th July in an attempt to defuse the tension around the game. The move comes after extensive talks between the PSNI and both clubs, with the police voicing their concerns about the policing of any game on the 11th or 12th given that it is the climax to the Orange Order’s marching season.

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