Rodgers tipped to respond to Rangers with ‘three or four signings’ for Celtic

Kris Boyd has predicted that Brendan Rodgers will make several “big” signings for Celtic this window in response to Rangers’ attempts to close the gap last term. Ange Postecolgou lost his last Old Firm encounter at Ibrox before moving to Tottenham Hotspur from Celtic, with Boyd of the belief that Rangers were showing signs of closing the gap on their fierce rivals.

Now that Rodgers is back for a second spell in charge following his Leicester City sacking, Boyd expects Celtic to invest heavily in quality players to ensure Rangers remain in their rearview mirror. Jota is on the brink of leaving Glasgow in a £25million move to Al-Ittihad, and a portion of that fee will likely be put towards Rodgers’ transfer budget, which is estimated to be around £30m.

When asked if Beale would prefer to be facing Rodgers than Postecoglou, Boyd said (via the Daily Record): “No, I don’t (think so). Yeah there were a few Celtic fans upset when Brendan Rodgers left the first time, but that’s because of what he meant to them. There’s no doubt Brendan Rodgers is top manager, he’s shown that throughout his managerial career.

“He was going to take a year out, but the lure to come back to Celtic was too big for him. It’s a project he wants to take on and right his wrongs. He’s not said sorry for his departure, he’s said sorry that he’s upset a lot of people in the process.

“Michael Beale probably looked at it and said, ‘We were getting closer to Ange Postecoglou’s team’. They beat them in the last game, albeit there was nothing there. But there were games beforehand where you felt as if they were getting closer, without really playing with a recognised striker. Alfredo Morelos played but he was way off it.

“So if I’m Michael Beale I would have been looking at it and with one or two additions, they could maybe push Celtic closer. But Brendan Rodgers ain’t coming up here if he isn’t getting money to spend. They will spend money and I wouldn’t be surprised if there are three or four big signings coming into Celtic in the next few weeks.”