Celtic’s obvious priority when it comes to improving their squad is finding players who can cope with the extra quality that European football demands. Domestically, all is rosy in the Celtic garden for now but that doesn’t mean they can afford to take things lightly. Brendan Rodgers will know well that a team can always improve and in Celtic’s case, improvement would either be finding players who can perform better in the Champions League, or at least who can ward off any improved challenges from Rangers, Aberdeen or Hearts in the league. The English Championship is ripe with talent and it’s a place where Celtic can afford to buy from.

Alan Browne

Without getting into a religious, nationalist or political article, one would usually assume that a player hailing from Ireland would probably have a soft spot for Celtic! With this in mind, one such player who will put in those extra few percentage of hard work when given the chance to play in the same shirt as his boyhood idols would be Alan Browne.

Already regarded as one of the reasons why Preston have done so well in the Championship this year, Browne is just 21 years of age and has tons of potential.  The Cork-born defensive midfielder would prove to be one hell of an obstacle for Scottish Premiership attacks to get through and he probably looks a better player already than the likes of Nir Bitton. He is already an improvement on what they have in the squad and has plenty more to give over the next few seasons.

Andy Yiadom

Celtic are well-off in most defensive areas. In Mikael Lustig they have an ageing right-back who may no longer cut it out for them when it really matters. Solid defensive displays and the increased need to get forward are now the norms for full-backs in Europe and so the younger, quicker and swashbuckling figure of Barnsley’s Andy Yiadom comes straight to the mind.

Yiadom is really going places and would superbly complement the attacking style of Kieran Tierney at left-back, to give Celtic some real balance going forward. Apart from this, Yiadom would be a more athletic alternative to the slightly more pedestrian Lustig. Just as the case is with Browne, the Ghanaian international would only improve over the next few years and be another player to offer Celtic some large profits in coming transfer windows.