European improvement the priority for Celtic as they look to add quality in January

Brendan Rodgers insists Celtic will do all they can to add quality to the squad in January and the summer as they prioritise improving their performances in Europe.

It has been another disappointing Champions League campaign for the Scottish champions and the manager says he will be looking to find the right calibre of player that can improve their levels in the next two transfer windows.

The former Liverpool and Leicester City boss, who returned to Glasgow in the summer, is adamant the club will do all they can to strengthen the squad next month.

Despite more than a decade of domestic dominance, the Hoops have failed to turn that into any significant success on the continent.

And Rodgers says he is confident they can take that next step by adding some established quality to the squad.

After Celtic’s Champions League campaign ended with a whimper in Rome on Tuesday night, Rodgers said: “I think we have shown at 11 vs 11 at that level we can compete and some games we played at the really high level.

“But it’s about consistency and quality at that level and that’s something we will need to improve on if we are going to improve our record in Europe.

“Supporters have every right to ask and demand the highest level and that’s what we demand here also.

“There was an anticipation in the summer that a number of players were going to move on so replacement players were brought that were ready to develop, but that didn’t happen and we ended up with a bigger squad than what we anticipated.

“But there is no doubt now that going forward that the squad will come down in numbers and we will need to add quality.

“Like I say, and there is no dressing it up, we lost some real quality players in the summer, and that’s something we will look to improve on in the coming windows.

“The ambition of the club is that, that will happen, the club has been so well run from a domestic perspective for a number of years, with what has been achieved and all the trophies it has won, so the next step is the European side and that’s why I came back to hopefully fulfil that in my time here.

“To continue to grow and improve you need to have players that are established, and I am very confident that we can do that over the coming windows.

“There’s no doubt that we have to add extra quality, we don’t need quantity we want quality as that’s how you improve.

“It’s ongoing, we want to improve the depth of quality in the squad. And I’m pretty sure if there is a chance to do that in January then the club will do that.”

Rodgers joined some first team members and past Celtic players in a private meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican following the game against Lazio.

And he was delighted to get what he calls the opportunity of a lifetime.

He said: “It was obviously a lifetime achievement for us all to be invited to go there, and a really humbling experience. It felt like a life achievement to meet him.

“It was really nice, I think everyone who came into the room that morning felt really privileged and really honoured.”