Celtic transfer state of play on Tierney, Valle, Barry and Moro as Rodgers reveals 'shifting pieces'
Brendan Rodgers admits there are several pieces to the Celtic transfer puzzle – but he insists his side won’t be left short for Europe of the second half of the season.
The Hoops are trying to secure a deal to bring Kieran Tierney back to the club on a loan more before a permanent return in the summer. Record Sport understands Celts could allow on loan Barcelona left back Alex Valle to head to Serie A outfit Como – if the Tierney deal from Arsenal gets a green light. But Valle is not going to be on the move before Celtic’s vital Champions League clash with Young Boys as Rodgers would not be able to add any new faces to the European squad.
The Irishman won’t allow his squad to be weakened for the continental clashes – or the domestic run in. Rodgers - who is gearing up to face Kilmarnock in the Scottish Cup on Saturday – said: “No, there's absolutely no way that would happen. Obviously, with Alex coming in here on loan, I make a commitment to a young player to come in and play.
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“He's loved his time here. He enjoys it here. He enjoys the football. He's become a Champions League player coming to Celtic. And he's in no rush to leave. However, if something was to change on that front, where he may not be getting the game time, then I have to be open and honest with him to let him understand this. But he knows absolutely the picture here. And like I said, my honesty and commitment will be with him, first and foremost, in terms of what the situation is.
“Alex is still very much a player here. Lots of rumours around lots of players and lots of moving parts. But at this very moment, Alex is here and getting ready for the game tomorrow.
“I think there a numbers of decisions on players here. But certainly we've got work to do. Obviously, the window is open for a little bit longer than the end of January. So that always gives time. We've got our final group game against Aston Villa and there's a little bit of time after that. But at this very moment in time, there’s lots of sort of shifting pieces in it all.
“We just manage that. At this moment in time, Alex, he's very concentrated. "He's absolutely loved his time here. And he's been here and he's been a fantastic young player for us. So I'm really, really happy with that. And we'll see what evolves over the course of the rest of the window.”
Rodgers is looking to strengthen and is in the hunt to land Aston Villa younger Louie Barry and has been linked with a big for £8.5m rated Real Valladolid’s winger Raul Moro and several others. The Hoops boss remained tight-lipped on targets but he’s confident he will bolster his squad by the end of the window.
Rodgers said: “I would hope so, yes. There's been lots of work going on for a number of months but, as you can imagine, it's never as simple when you actually then get to the point of getting the player that you want because there's various reasons why his club would want to maybe keep them. But, I'm fairly confident by the end we can add that extra freshness and competition to the squad.”
Rodgers admitted the extra European games in January has slowed down the transfer merry-go-round this year. He said: “Yes, I think it does. I think with the extra added games, and obviously remembering as well, if you sign players that can't play in the Champions League, you're then working with the players that you have currently within your squad.
“Thankfully for us, touch wood, we don't have the injuries that maybe, if another team has lots of injuries, then even more so why they would want to keep players back.
“You just have to be patient. You'd always want to have a player in on the very first day, but if it can't be the case, then somewhere along the January period, we would hope to get them in then.”
