The full extent of Celtic’s massive first team squad came into focus yesterday as the club released their official team picture for the new season.
An incredible 33 players are in the picture with only Daniel Kelly still to make his debut.
When the Champions League squad was published by UEFA there were a number of high value players left out such as Maik Nawrocki and Alexandro Bernabei.
Changing manager regularly can result in an accumulation of players, fortunately during the summer window Albian Ajeti, Vasilis Barkas and Ismaila Soro were moved on but the opportunity to trim the squad and concentrate on quality was lost with seven new signings brought in plus Nat Phillips and Paulo Bernardo both on loan.
Three injuries in a fortnight caused issues in central defence but 33 is still an incredible number to work with in terms of matches and training sessions.
In every position there are two options with a third player available in most positions.
During the summer Marco Tilio, Yang Hyun-jun and Luis Palma were brought in with only Jota moving out. Mikey Johnston returned from his loan in Portugal to join James Forrest, Liel Abada and Daizen Maeda.
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Our 2023/24 team photo 📸🍀 pic.twitter.com/IpAI2EnNVy
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) September 26, 2023
As well as the players above Bosun Lawal and Adam Montgomery are on loan at Fleetwood Town, Sead Haksabanovic is on loan at Stoke City with Liam Shaw with Wigan Athletic.
Closer to home Ben Summers and Ben McPherson are in the Championship with Dunfermline and Queens Park while Tobi Oluwayemi and Matthew Anderson are out at Admira Wacker in Austria.
There will be an expectation to sign players in January, if that is the case the first team pool is heading towards the 40 mark.
