Ex-Celtic star pinpoints the 4 positions Brendan Rodgers may look to strengthen with £30m war chest

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers will be unveiled to the media this afternoon as he gets to work for his second spell leading the Scottish champions – and he may look to recruit for four different positions.

Chris Sutton reckons Brendan Rodgers may look at the goalkeeper position. (Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group)

Former Parkhead favourite Chris Sutton believes he is the “best possible man for the job in replacing” Ange Postecoglou who made the switch to Tottenham Hotspur following last season's treble triumph. The pundit has admitted he is fascinated to see how Rodgers operates in the transfer window with the club linked to a trio of South Korean players.

“Rodgers has to have been told there is some cash to spend to take the side to the next level,” he said in his Daily Record column. “That might be easier said than done, but it’s at least a start. It will be fascinating to see the dynamic again with him and the club because it’s fair to say it got a bit strained towards the end last time.”

He added: “It’s funny, when you look at the recruitment in his first spell, he didn’t actually spend that much. There were big outlays on the likes of Scott Sinclair, Olivier Ntcham and Odsonne Edouard. But when you factor in big money sales such as Moussa Dembele and Stuart Armstrong, Rodgers’ net spend over three windows was less than £10million. Now the talk is he’ll be handed £30m this summer.”

Celtic have snapped up young Norwegian midfielder Odin Thiago Holm as their first signing of the window. It takes Rodgers' first-team squad up to 34 and Sutton is of the view he will focus on “quality rather than quantity” as he pinpointed four possible areas the manager may look to strengthen.

“He might be looking at the goalkeeper situation with Joe Hart not getting any younger, a centre back looks a must, I’d imagine another attacking wide player and maybe striker could be on the agenda,” Sutton said.

"Does he go and buy three or four £8m or £9m players for these roles? This is not a squad that needs wholesale changes. A lot will depend on who leaves, but I’d suspect some of the players who might have been thinking about a new challenge, must have their minds changed with a new manager of this calibre coming in.”