Brendan Rodgers eyes summer transfers and insists Celtic can't be complacent

Brendan Rodgers believes summer transfer activity at Celtic is needed to bring freshness to the squad and stave off any feelings of complacency.

The Celtic boss had taken aim at some of his players in the wake of their shock 1-0 defeat to St Johnstone last week, saying there seemed to be a mentality issue that he couldn’t accept as the team looks to get over the line and claim another Premiership title.

That defeat means Celtic can’t seal the league triumph in front of their own supporters against Kilmarnock on Saturday, which is a source of frustration for Rodgers. Though he believes there are a number of reasons some players may not have been at their best at this stage in a long season, he thinks that even if they finish the campaign by wrapping up the league and winning the Scottish Cup to record a memorable Treble, there would still need to be some turnover in the squad.

“I think change is needed,” he said. “I think that’s that freshness, that new energy coming into your squad that alleviates any of that sort of complacency.

“So we will bring players in to challenge the squad and the team for the summer.

“That’s natural at any team. However this team does at the end of the season, come the end, we want to improve it. Because, like I said, if you just sit on that, then the team needs the competition.

“So either way, we will look to improve the squad.”

Rodgers believes it’s only to be expected that there would be changes, both from he and his staff looking to raise the level of the squad but also from players wanting to make a move.

“It’s all about improvement,” he said. “I think naturally what you have at our club is a natural slide of players that move out and come in every three or four years.

“It’s the nature of our model here, but it’s also the nature of players being here and maybe either looking to move on or want to come away from the pressure that’s here, because three or four years of it, it’s a lot of pressure.

“But we always have to be ready to replace any players that go. But obviously important for us is improvement.

“We always want to improve the team, improve the hunger in the team. That’s always key.

“One of the ways to succeed is that you need the freshness. It’s either that or the manager goes.

“It’s simple, there’s no rocket science in it. You cannot be at a club for a long period of time with the same group of players.

“And likewise, the same group of players need a different voice.”