In Tuesday’s Daily Record and Sun, Rodgers speaks highly of Ralston from his first spell in charge but Celtic 365 understands that the Scotland defender has missed the trip to Japan with concerns that he could be out of action for an extended period.
After losing Jota for £25million to Al-Ittihad, Brendan Rodgers is on the lookout for a new flair player who can produce both goals and assists and Ferreira is seen as an ideal candidate.
Reo Hatate had the biggest assist possible in the 1-1 draw away to Shakhtar Donetsk but that incident where he was almost credited with a goal summed up Celtic’s luck in the Champions League. Bad luck.
Brendan Rodgers is very much cut from the same cloth, wanting to give players the maximum opportunity to impress and make the best of the opportunities from a relatively short career although Nakamura has demonstrated that careers can be extended.
He played Edouard and Christie at Ibrox just days before they were sold to Crystal Palace and Bournemouth. After seven matches in charge of Celtic Postecoglou had picked up 10 points, the pressure was on.
One theory that is being put around is that Celtic are looking to reveal Kwan and Yang Hyun-jun while they are in Japan but that has been blown out of the water by the announcements from Buson Ipark and Gangwon.
Any team managed by Kevin Muscat is bound to have a bit of bite with the former Millwall defender into his third year in charge of the club after taking over from Postecoglou. Following the Celtic friendly the Marinos take on Manchester City on Sunday.
No Australian has ever managed in the EPL but that is about to change with Ange Postecoglou in charge of Spurs, following on from Antonio Conte who needs no introduction.
We wouldn’t be able to buy Kieran for £25-£30million, that’s for sure, or the figures I see banded about. I’m pretty sure we wouldn’t be able to pay the huge salary he’s on. However, one can never tell.
We will be looking to trim the squad. That will be the natural process. I’ve already spoken to a couple of players and I’m sure I will do over the course of pre-season.