Preseason games are rarely used to judge a team’s strength, but after Celtic’s 5-1 thrashing at the hands of Ajax in the Como Cup has left fans wondering whether the team has enough squad depth for the season ahead.
The team went on to secure the third-place spot in the cup after defeating Saudi side Al-Ahli on penalties. However, the narrative after the mini-tournament remains that Celtic needs to bolster its squad further before the season starts.
After winning the Scottish Premiership for four seasons in a row, it’s no surprise that expectations for Celtic in the 25/26 season are sky-high.
Naturally, bookmakers have Celtic as favourites to lift the title again. As usual, Rangers are expected to be their main challengers, with Hearts listed as the third-favourite after the investments from Brighton and Hove Albion owner Tony Bloom.
With Hearts in the mix this year, there’s been more activity on online sportsbooks. Non-Gamstop betting sites have emerged as the most popular destination for Scottish fans, offering competitive odds and exclusive promotions that aren’t always available on UK-licensed platforms.
While Celtic fans still see their team as the clear favourite to win it all this season, the concerns over squad depth are there.
Celtic has brought left-back Kieran Tierney back to the club following his stint at Arsenal and signed two J-League players in Hayato Inamura and Shin Yamada. The team also signed Ross Doohan and Callum Osmand on free deals, as well as winger Benjamin Nygren from the Danish side FC Nordsjælland.
The fans are pleased with the signings but want the club to bring in more faces before the transfer market closes. With Jota out with a long-term injury and some concerns over Adam Idah, they expect Celtic to sign another forward.
Even manager Brendan Rodgers said that the club has some work left to do in the summer transfer window. He added that it’s obvious there are some gaps in the frontline and that they need more support in these positions.
However, ever since his return to the club, Rodgers has been clear that he doesn’t want to sign squad fillers, but only players who can take the squad to the next level.
Despite winning the Premiership comfortably last season, Celtic has struggled to replace Kyogo Furuhashi’s goals after he left for Rennes in January in a £8.44 million deal that also brought fan-favourite Jota back to the club.
Celtic fans are hoping that all transfers will be well thought through and that the club will avoid scenarios like the one with Maryan Shved during Rodgers’ first stint at the club. At the time, Rodgers took to the media to express his frustration over the number of wingers being bought.
It was clear that Shved wasn’t in his first-team plans, and the Ukraine international was quickly loaned back to Karpaty Lviv.
Even this summer, when Celtic signed Inamura, Rodgers said that he wasn’t in his first-team plans, but is a part of the investment of the club. However, the Japanese performed well during the pre-season, and it looks like he will provide competition for Tierney at the left-back position this season.