Brendan Rodgers admits there are still a lot of ‘moving parts’ to Celtic’s January transfer business — but is adamant the club won’t be left short for their vital Champions League fixtures.
Chasing a deal to sign Real Valladolid’s £8.5million-rated winger Raul Moro, Celtic are also still locked in negotiations with Arsenal to bring Kieran Tierney back to Parkhead.
Reports have also emerged in Spain over recent days that Barcelona loanee Alex Valle could be heading for the Parkhead exit door, with his parent club preferring him to continue his development elsewhere.
Unhappy that Valle has started only seven league matches, Barca are ready to sanction a loan move to Serie A side Como, who are managed by Cesc Fabregas, for the second half of the season.
Celtic would need to agree to cut Valle’s loan short, as per the initial agreement — and would only do so as and when they can clinch a deal for Tierney.
With two Champions League fixtures to come against Young Boys and Aston Villa over the next fortnight, Rodgers, whose side host Kilmarnock in the Scottish Cup fourth round today, won’t allow his squad to be weakened.
On the speculation around Valle, he said: ‘Alex is still very much a player here. Lots of rumours around lots of players and lots of moving parts.
‘But, at this very moment, Alex is getting ready for the game this weekend. I think there are a number of decisions on players here. But, certainly, we’ve got work to do.
‘Obviously, the window is open for a little bit longer than the end of January. So that always gives us time.
‘We’ve got our final group game against Aston Villa and there’s a little bit of time after that, but, at this very moment, there’s lots of sort of shifting pieces in it all.
‘We just manage that. Alex is very concentrated. He’s absolutely loved his time here.
‘He’s been a fantastic young player for us. So I’m really, really happy with that. And we’ll see what evolves over the course of the rest of the window.’
Asked about the prospect of Barcelona recalling Valle and Celtic being left short of numbers, Rodgers added: ‘No, there’s absolutely no way that would happen.
‘Obviously, with Alex coming in here on loan, I make a commitment to a young player to come in and play.
‘He’s loved his time here. He enjoys it here. He enjoys the football. He’s become a Champions League player coming to Celtic.
‘And he’s in no rush to leave. However, if something was to change on that front, where he may not be getting the game time, then I have to be open and honest with him to let him understand this.
‘But he knows absolutely the picture here. My honesty and commitment will be with him, first and foremost, in terms of what the situation is.’
Rodgers is confident he will be able to add a couple of new faces before the end of the window but feels the new Champions Leaue format is a complicating factor this season with games in January.
He added: ‘Yes, I would hope so (on making new signings).There’s been lots of work going on for a number of months.
‘But, as you can imagine, it’s never as simple when you actually then get to the point of getting the player that you want, because there’s various reasons why his club would want to maybe keep them.
‘But, I’m fairly confident by the end we can add that extra freshness and competition to the squad.
‘You just have to be patient. You’d always want to have a player in on the very first day but, if it can’t be the case, then somewhere along the January period we would hope to get them in then.’
