Brendan Rodgers shoots down trio of transfer rumors | OneFootball

Despite an obvious need at centre-back, Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has brought in a trio of attack-minded talents in the January window in Timothy Weah, Oliver Burke, and Vakoun Issouf Bayo.

Dedryck Boyata will leave the club at the end of the season on a free transfer, while Filip Benkovic will return to Leicester City at the conclusion of his loan spell.

While Rodgers appeared to be very relaxed at his press conference on Thursday, Rodgers didn’t appear optimistic about bringing in a centre-back in January.

“I think that will be very difficult to do that this month,” admitted Rodgers.

“To be brutally honest, if we were to bring in someone of the quality we require they would want to play.

“There are positions we’ll look at but that is one where a couple of our key players will move on and will need to be replaced.

“Obviously, we have young Kris Ajer and Jozo Simunovic already here. It’s an area of the team we will find it tough to strengthen in January but it’s a must to do that in the summer.

“It’s a possibility that we will spend more in the next couple of weeks. We’ve brought in a couple of loans and a young boy with potential. I’m not sure – it’s down to availability and also to what’s affordable from the club’s perspective.

“But I think we’ll look to add to our squad. There are also a few lads we’ll be sending out on loan but there are still key areas we’ve been looking to strengthen over a period of time.”

Rodgers then took the time to address a trio of rumored transfer targets: Yaya Toure, Scott McTominay, and James McCarthy.

“We hope to do some more business if we can but there’s nothing to add to the speculation. Yaya Toure? Well, his brother’s here but he’s not one we’re looking at.

“Scott McTominay is a talented young player but there’s nothing to add to that and the same goes for James McCarthy.

“Agents will strategically throw out a name to stick in the papers but then I’ll get a call from them asking me if I’m interested in the player because they read that I was; you know the game.”

Celtic will host Scottish League One side Airdrieonians on Saturday in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup.