Rodgers soothes Celtic fans’ fears over transfer deadline

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers said there will be be no mass exodus of key players and stressed he shared the ambition of club supporters.
Rodgers was prepared for a “big seven days” ahead of the deadline as he reiterated his wish for signings that could help Celtic’s Champions League hopes.
Although the Scottish champions have spent transfer fees to re-sign Adam Idah and Paulo Bernardo following loan spells, they have not added any new outfield players this summer.
Fans now fear their team will be weakened amid speculation linking a number of key players with moves. Brighton are closing in on a deal to land Matt O’Riley, while Kyogo Furuhashi is on Manchester City’s shortlist of striking targets, and Reo Hatate has been linked with Leicester.
Rodgers confirmed Gustaf Lagerbielke would likely move on while Mikey Johnston’s future remains up in the air.
Although Celtic have been linked with moves for Sheffield United defender Auston Trusty and Los Angeles midfielder Mateusz Bogusz, Rodgers confirmed no new signings were imminent.
Speaking at his media conference ahead of Sunday’s William Hill Premiership encounter with St Mirren, Rodgers said: “Just looking at all the gossip and speculation, I thought I was preparing for a five-a-side game this weekend with all the players I’m losing.
“Especially going into the last week of the market, there is always going to be speculation. But there is nothing new to add.
“For any player, it’s not going to go right down to the wire. We have a big week next week after the St Mirren match, preparing for our last game of this block [against Rangers]. I wouldn’t want that to be interrupted at all.”
While accepting Celtic’s business model revolves around selling players for profit, Rodgers said: “We’re also clear that there’s not a big push for us to move lots of players. Some will go because that’s where we’re at but there’s not a need to be losing four or five players of real quality.”
Furuhashi is set to return from a shoulder injury in Paisley and Rodgers is not concerning himself with the links to the English champions.
“I wasn’t surprised at the link,” the former Leicester manager said. “He’s a wonderful player. But there’s been nothing from Man City.”
Rodgers “totally understands” why fans are frustrated with the transfer situation.
“I totally get it,” he added. “Their idea is the same as mine. We want to improve. This is a football club with incredible potential.
“For some players, we won’t be the end game and we get that. But it still doesn’t mean that our benchmark is just domestically. We’ve got to have a high bar and our bar was set, this club having won the European Cup.
“I don’t want us just to be a team that participates, takes the money, comes back out and then is happy with domestic success. The benchmark for me is much higher than that. We want to be in there, competing and fighting.”
When asked what was holding up their business, Rodgers said: “Sometimes you may miss players in the market, who have gone. There is availability, there is affordability but there are still players we can get in who can allow us to grow and develop.
“I don’t want to go too much into because we will be judged at the end of the market. That’s when things really ramp up in this final week. It’s a big seven days for us.
“It can take a little bit of time but we will see at the end of the window, where we are at. I’ve always been confident we can improve the squad by then.”
When asked how he balances his transfer ambition with the frustration, the 51-year-old said: “I’ve been here before. I can manage it better now. It doesn’t make me any less ambitious.
“This is the club that I want to be at. I want to do the very, very best because I know I represent the supporters to drive the team going forward.
“I think every manager will have a moment in the window where you are frustrated because you want to get players in so you can work with them because the culture here is to coach players to be better and improve.
“So the quicker we can get them in, of course the quicker the improvements take place. But unfortunately we’re not in total control of it. You’re always relying on the other club as well and the other player.”
● Aberdeen are close to finalising a loan move for Millwall and Scotland striker Kevin Nisbet.
Dundee revealed they are hopeful of being granted planning permission in time to start building their new stadium and event campus at Camperdown next year.
The Tayside club released a video on Friday illustrating how their proposed new home in the north of the city will look.
Dundee applied for planning permission for the ambitious project — which will require an estimated investment of £95 million — earlier this year and are confident of receiving positive news in the coming months.
“We’ve had a team of expert consultants working to ensure the viability of the project and earlier this year submitted the most comprehensive Planning Permission in Principle document [we] suspect Dundee City Council has ever seen,” the club said in a Q and A about the venture on their website.
“It is our expectation that the councillors make their planning decision shortly to allow us to ‘break ground’ as quickly as possible.”
Dundee are intent on moving from Dens Park, their dilapidated home for the past 125 years, as the ground has “outlived its intended cycle” and is costing the club £700,000 per year to maintain.
Dundee said the new venture at Camperdown will aim to retain “an element of Dens’ history” but that they will be open to selling naming rights in order to generate revenue.